Michael Oren, the former Israeli Ambassador to the United States, says Israel's relationship with the U.S. is the strongest it's ever been.
In an interview with CBN founder Pat Robertson, Oren added that since Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, the tiny Jewish state has enjoyed flourishing relationships with countries all over the world, many of which were either outright enemies, or openly hostile 50 years ago.
See the full interview on Tuesday's 700 Club.
When Egypt, Syria and Jordan attacked Israel on June 5, 1967, "The United States was a friendly country, but not an allied country," Oren said. "The Israelis would fight that Six-Day War without a single American bullet."
"You look at Israel today with a flourishing relationship with China, India, a good relationship with Russia, with the former Soviet block countries of some of our best friends in Europe, peace with Jordan, peace with Egypt, good relations with Sunni Arab states in the Gulf, and above all perhaps the deepest and most multi-faceted alliance, which the United States has had with any foreign nation since the post World War II period," Oren said.
"If you look at this from a historical perspective it's nothing short of miraculous," Oren added.
Despite achieving peace with many of its Arab neighbors, Israel's goal of peaceful coexistence with the Palestinians has remained elusive.
Oren said the first of many proposals of a peaceful, two-state solution for Arabs and Israelis came from the British in 1937, but the Arabs rejected it. The Palestinians rejected four more offers of statehood through the years, the most recent in 2008.
"In 1947 the UN proposed a two-state solution, the Arabs rejected it," Oren recounted. "You can say that Jimmy Carter in 1979 was a part of a Camp David process where they proposed a similar two-state solution, the Arabs rejected it. And then in 2000, Bill Clinton with Ehud Barak made that proposal with Yasser Arafat, Arafat rejected it. In 2008, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel made that proposal to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, and he walked away from it."
Although there are challenges to be overcome, Oren said there is much to celebrate as the country commemorates the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.
"Today the city is open, it is flourishing, and there is great reason to celebrate."
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