REMARKS BY AL GORE 
                       50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ISRAEL'S
                       FOUNDING 
                       JERUSALEM

                       President and Mrs. Weizman, Prime Minister and Mrs.
                       Netanyahu, Mayor and Mrs. Olmert, "Am Israel." 

                       "Ani mevakesh slichah! Ani lo medaber Ivrit." I apologize, I do
                       not speak Hebrew. 

                       But even though I speak in the language of my birth, my heart
                       and the hearts of all Americans beat with yours this evening,
                       as we hallow the 50th year of Israel's birth. 

                       "We were like those who dreamed," the psalmist sang. And so
                       we still are. Those who not only dreamed, but struggled in
                       their dream. Those who struggled not only with the human, but
                       with the divine. 

                       Since the angel of God first wrestled with Jacob, and gave him
                       your name: "Israel", your dream and your struggle have
                       nurtured the children of Israel through all the bitter centuries
                       of your wandering and dispersion, your persecution and
                       despair. The dream, which you called "Zion", was on your lips
                       daily. You remembered Zion at every expulsion, at every
                       oppression, at every devastation. 

                       Since the cruel and envious brothers of Joseph the Dreamer
                       cast him into the pit, your tormentors have mocked and reviled
                       your deepest hopes with the taunting question "What now will
                       become of the dream?" 

                       But the dream and the struggle in the dream have endured. 

                       One hundred years and nine months ago, Theodore Herzl
                       awoke to the realization that the dream and the struggle are
                       one. "If you will it," he said, "it is not a dream." 

                       Soon after, a young David Ben Gurion spoke for all of the
                       ingathering exiles when he said they arrived here with "the
                       dew of dreams still moist in our hearts". 

                       A half century ago at one minute after midnight, your mothers
                       and fathers proclaimed your freedom. In the morning they sent
                       their children to prepare for war. The dream and the struggle
                       were still one. 

                       And so they still are one. 

                       But what a difference there is at this jubilee celebration. I'm
                       reminded that Joseph's brothers who had left him for dead, did
                       not recognize him when they saw him again, long after his
                       escape from his perils and his triumphant ascendence to power
                       and glory. 

                       If those who persecuted you, despised you, and murdered you,
                       could see this glorious celebration tonight, would they even
                       recognize you? Look at what has become of your dream: 

                       You are one of the most vibrant democracies in history. An
                       economic and military power. A wellspring of productivity and
                       prosperity, of wisdom and humanity. A place of poetry and
                       theater and learning and life. 

                       As I lift up my eyes tonight and see the whole house of Israel,
                       I recognize you. And I remember the prophecy of Ezekiel - -
                       that God would raise you up; that bone would join to bone,
                       sinew to sinew, and that He would breathe life into your flesh
                       and restore you to your land. (Applause). 

                       I recognize you -- and President Clinton and I are proud, as are
                       all Americans, that the United States was the first nation to
                       recognize the State of Israel -- eleven minutes after you
                       proclaimed your independence (applause) on the 5th of Iyar,
                       50 years ago. (Applause). 

                       We Americans feel our ties with Israel are eternal. Our
                       founders, like yours, also made an "errand into the wilderness"
                       in search of a new Zion. Our struggle, like yours, has been
                       with the divine, as well as the human. Our prophets, and
                       yours, have told us they had a dream, and have summoned us
                       with their dream to the struggle for justice and peace. Our
                       work, like yours, is not yet complete. 

                       It is an honor for my wife Tipper and me to be counted as your
                       friends, and it is an honor to have you count upon our
                       friendship, and the friendship of the nation I am here to
                       represent. May a friend join you then, in a blessing at this
                       intoxicating and sobering moment? 

                       Blessed art Thou our God, ruler of the Universe. "Shehekhianu
                       v'kiemanu v'higianu la'zman hazeh!" He has kept us alive and
                       sustained us and brought us to this time. 

                       May the Eternal bring us together in peace and in justice, in
                       security and prosperity to the time that still awaits us and our
                       children, and our grandchildren, so that the visions born in this
                       hallowing and harrowing place may become realities for all
                       those who were created in the image of a good and demanding
                       God. 

                       May God bless those who struggle in their dream. And may
                       God bless Medinat Israel.

