Hollywood stars celebrate Israel's 60th

Israeli Consulate and CECI celebrate in style as well as honor prolific Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan.

By KELLY HARTOG
Thursday night was considered a major coup for the local Jewish community, when a joint effort by the Israeli Consulate and the Citizens Empowerment Center in Israel (CECI) brought out Hollywood stars to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary, under the banner "From Vision to Reality". Held at Paramount Studios, owned by Hollywood titan Sumner Redstone, who was also in attendance, the evening was an opportunity to celebrate in style as well as honor the Israeli Youth Movements and prolific Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan. The Israeli born producer has over 100 feature films to his credit, including Pretty Woman, Natural Born Killers, LA Confidential, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and even The Chipmunks, to name but a few. Indeed it was the 74-year-old Milchan who drew in the celebrities, as stars including Jason Alexander, Seal, Serena Williams and Warren Beatty and Annette Benning mingled with the local Jewish community and visiting Israeli dignitaries including Yair Lapid and Yuli Tamir. In typical Israeli fashion, Beatty and Benning happily mingled at the outdoor cocktail event with over a thousand locals, before heading inside to their seats. Israeli Consul General Jacob Dayan opened the proceedings stating that the Holy Land and Hollywood connect through Theodore Herzl. "Herzl said, 'if you will it, it is no dream,'" said Dayan. "And this is exactly where Hollywood and the Holy Land connect. When we dream alone, it¹s just a dream. When we dream together it¹s a beginning of a reality." Dayan called Milchan a dreamer and a doer, knowing how to turn dreams into reality. Videotaped messages to Milchan from prominent Israelis were played, including those from Tzipi Livni, Bibi Netanyahu and Shimon Peres. Notably absent from the line up was Ehud Olmert. Redstone spoke openly of Milchan¹s achievements as a philanthropist, politician, and movie producer. He also stated that Milchan was a "man of intrigue." While Milchan himself has never openly acknowledged some of his efforts in helping the state of Israel, Redstone stated, "Some of you may know Arnon ran guns and military equipment to Israel when she needed them desperately. Many consider him a quasi-premier of Israel. And every premier of Israel consults with Arnon about strategy." Coming on stage to accept his award, Milchan decided to throw away his scripted speech; talking to the audience one on one telling them of a meeting he had with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat. He predicated his story saying, "I'm not here to glorify a gang leader, but [Arafat] was showing me his Prada boots and telling me he has a copy of Pretty Woman he watches all the time. Milchan said when he told Arafat he was an 11th generation Israeli, "Arafat said Œyou¹re more Palestinian than me" Milchan went on to say, "If young kids are qualified to die for their country, they are qualified to live for their country. We have to listen to the younger generation, they are the future." With that he called up on stage one of the young people he has supported and believed in for 10 years; tennis champion Serena Williams, whom he called his role model and "Cinderella story. "Milchan also helped broker Williams' endorsement deals with Puma. Telling Williams he wanted to share his award with her, Williams said, "Arnon is my role model. To even have an opportunity to stand here with you is an honor. Arnon was one of the few people that believed in me." Following the official award, entertainment for the evening was provided by comedian Ilan Gold, Israeli singers Subliminal, Sivan, Israela Asago, Inbal Aharon, Dany Navaro and the local Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble. Yuli Tamir presented the award to the Israeli youth movements and a cadre of local Israel youth movement kids came up on stage waving Israeli flags. While security at the event was obviously tight, it was kept under wraps. No bag checks or metal detectors, simply guards at the entrance checking names as people drove in. On the street outside a dozen or so protestors stood with banners declaiming "Not time to Celebrate" and "Israel: 9/11 Conspiracy." But the protest was almost imperceptible and did nothing to dampen the spirits of those celebrating inside.