Steve Rothman: “Today we celebrate two anniversaries, one a very happy one, and one a very, very sad one. The happy one first. Here is…”

“Today we celebrate two anniversaries, one a very happy one, and one a very, very sad one. The happy one first. Here is the nation of Israel, this orange little sliver on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Tiny little Israel. I know on maps on television, sometimes you see just a little portion and you think Israel is this huge country. Take a look, my colleagues and friends. This is Israel. This is Saudi Arabia. This is Iraq, Syria, Egypt here, Iran here, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait. Do you see how small Israel is compared to the rest of the Persian and Arab world? Absolutely tiny, is it not? They are outnumbered more than 30 to one. Today is the 54th anniversary of Israel's founding. How did Israel come to be founded? A long time ago, Turkey in the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Empire of Turkey was aligned with Germany in World War I. When the Germans lost World War I, despite the help of their friends in the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Empire lost all its territory to the Allies, the Americans, the British and the French. The Ottoman owned much of the Middle East, including this whole area.”