Oren: Obama visit reminds us Israel facing threats

Ambassador to US says Israel must commit to peace, but Passover reminds us there are forces "seeking our destruction."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Former Israeli ambassador to US Michael Oren. (photo credit: Hyungwon Kang / Reuters)
Former Israeli ambassador to US Michael Oren.
(photo credit: Hyungwon Kang / Reuters)
On Passover, "we are urged to remember that we were once slaves in Egypt and that accordingly, we should act with humility and show civility to the strangers dwelling among us," Ambassador to US Michael Oren said on Monday.
Writing on his Facebook, Oren stated that during the Seder we are also told to remember that in every generation "forces arise seeking our destruction."
"These two ordinances of remembrance are especially poignant this Passover," Oren stated, ending his note by wishing everybody a 'chag sameach.'
Commenting on US President Barack Obama's visit last week, Oren stated that his visits to Yad Vashem and the Iron Dome battery reaffirmed Israel's need to be "vigilant and strong in the face of multiple threats, some of them existential."
"In essence, President Obama was reminding us that we too were once stateless and that freedom and self-determination should be enjoyed by all peoples of our region," Oren wrote.
"President Obama's visit to Israel was ripe with symbolism," Oren wrote, listing his visits to the Israel museum and Theodor Herzl's grave as examples of his support for the Zionist idea and the legitimacy of Jewish statehood.
Oren stated that Israel should both "reassert our commitment to peace, as well as our determination to defend ourselves."