Steven Holt: “It is with great pleasure that I rise today to congratulate our friend and ally, the State of Israel, on the 62nd…”

“It is with great pleasure that I rise today to congratulate our friend and ally, the State of Israel, on the 62nd anniversary of her founding. A week ago, I had the honor of attending the National Days of Remembrance ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. I was joined by 3 of my constituents, Marlboro residents Toby Shylit Mack, Community Relations Committee Chair of the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County, and her husband Bob Mack, and North Brunswick resident Lee Livingston, President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County. As always, it was a very moving ceremony. Sitting in the Rotunda, amidst survivors and liberators from the U.S. Armed Forces, I was reminded that even in 1945--out of the ashes of the most unimaginable tragedy in human history--there was nothing pre-ordained about the founding of the State of Israel. When he was President, Dwight Eisenhower said, 'Our forces saved the remnants of the Jewish people of Europe for a new life and a new hope in the reborn land of Israel.' However, it took three years of tireless work of leaders like David Ben Gurion, Chaim Weitzmann, and Golda Meir--coupled with the dedicated support of Jews in the U.S. and throughout the world--to make the dream of a reborn land of Israel become a reality. Even upon its founding 62 years ago, there was nothing pre-ordained about Israel's survival.”