Oren speaks

When I met Ambassador Michael Oren a couple of summers ago in Jerusalem, while he was a senior fellow at the Shalem Center, he said something that marked me. I told him how so many Israel supporters in America are obsessed with Israel's security situation, and I asked him what it was like to actually live in that situation. Does it dominate conversations and daily life and one's consciousness? Before I could finish my question, he let out a laugh, and gave me a little rundown of his hobbies and recent activities, which included poetry tours and drumming lessons. In other words, Israelis might be properly concerned and vigilant about the enemies on its doorstep, but that hardly stops them from living life to its fullest. This is the speech Oren gave yesterday at the GA Convention in Washington, D.C.