​On behalf of Military Attache General Yaakov Ayish, Deputy Ambassador Reuven Azar, and all my colleagues at the Israeli Embassy, my wife Rhoda and I want to welcome all of you.
I want to especially welcome the many Obama administration officials, Senators, Members of Congress and Ambassadors who are here.
Above all, I want to thank you, Vice President Biden. It has been many years since a Vice President came to this event, so we deeply appreciate your presence here. I know it reflects your personal commitment to Israel, which you have expressed in so many ways during your more than 40 years as a Senator and Vice President. But I also think your presence here helps reaffirm the alliance and friendship between our two countries.

Actually, alliance and friendship are probably the wrong words. Allies have common interests. Friends have common values. America and Israel have both. We confront the same enemies, and we are driven by the same ideals. But America and Israel also share a common heritage and a common destiny.

That is why Prime Minister Netanyahu was perhaps more accurate when he said last month that America and Israel are more than friends and allies – we are family – Mishpacha. Now all families have disagreements. Mr. Vice President, I don’t know how it works in Catholic families, but I can tell you that in Jewish families, disagreements can get pretty heated.

But what helps us overcome those disagreements is the understanding that what unites us is far more important than what divides us. This is especially true of the relationship between America and Israel – and it is something I think about every day as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States.
We often speak about the unprecedented security and intelligence cooperation between our two countries as if we are routinely checking off some inconsequential list.

But I know that Israeli lives are saved because of that cooperation. And Mr. Vice President, you know that American lives are saved because of that cooperation. And I know what America means to Israel. What is means to have the most powerful country in the world on your side. And what it would mean not to have America on Israel’s side. And Mr. Vice President, you know what Israel means to America.

What it means to have a strong, stable, democratic ally in the heart of the most dangerous region on earth.
And what it would mean for America if there were no Israel.

Mr. Vice President, on Independence Day, Israelis do not focus on our immense challenges.
We focus on our remarkable achievements.
67 years ago today, we established a sovereign Jewish state in our ancestral homeland - the same land in which thousands of years ago our patriarchs prayed, our prophets preached and our kings ruled. In 67 years, Israel has gone from being home to just 5% of the world’s Jews to being home to nearly half of the world's Jews. In 67 years, Israel has gone from having an ill-equipped and under-manned military to having one of the more powerful and capable militaries in the world. In 67 years, Israel has gone from being a small, agricultural backwater to being a global, technological power.

Today is a day when we marvel at Israeli technology that is powering the world's computers, irrigating arid lands across the globe and helping paraplegics walk. Today is a day when Israelis can take pride in having won a dozen Nobel Prizes and 6 European Basketball championships, and in having developed a dynamic culture that produces world class museums, terrific wines and a country so exciting that Israelis actually go to Manhattan to unwind.

And today is a day when we are especially proud of our vibrant and rambunctious democracy, where concepts like freedom, equality and justice are not empty words.

In Israel, a daughter can grow up to be a fighter pilot or a Prime Minister, an Arab can sit in judgment of Israel's highest officials in our highest court, a Muslim can graduate first in her class at our most prestigious university and a Christian can worship as they please in a thriving community.

What is even more remarkable is that Israel has achieved all it has during 67 years of multiple wars, countless terror attacks, and a continuous and unrelenting effort to destroy it.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here in Washington, Israel's Independence Day also gives us an opportunity to thank America for the partnership that has grown so much stronger over these past 67 years. People forget, but in 1948, the United Sates placed an arms embargo on Israel. Israel fought its War of Independence with Czech rifles and flew French planes in the Six Day War.

Today, the United States helps Israel shoulder its enormous defense burden with billions of dollars in military assistance, provides Israel with some of the most advanced weapons systems, and jointly develops with Israel perhaps the world's best missile defense program.

In 1948, Israel was exporting oranges to the United States and our bilateral trade was 34 million dollars.

Today, we export the most cutting edge technology, our bilateral trade has grown by over 1,000 times to 38 billion dollars, and this year we will mark 30 years since Israel became America's first free trade partner.

For over 67 years, America has stood by Israel's side in countless ways - from airlifts that helped Israel defend itself in war to loan guarantees that helped Israel stabilize its economy and absorb new immigrants to vetoes of anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations.Over those years, America and Israel have had some serious disagreements, even on vital matters. But we have weathered all those disagreements to grow closer and closer, decade after decade.

I am confident that the security challenges America and Israel will face together, and the innovation America and Israel will create together, will pull our countries even closer together in the years and decades ahead.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As Israel celebrates its independence, we give thanks today for what we have overcome and for how far we have come. We also give thanks to the American people, to their representatives in Congress and to Presidents from Harry Truman to Barack Obama for all the help you have given us along the way.

We give thanks for all America has done to make Israel stronger, safer, and more prosperous -- for support that has enabled Israel both to defend itself by itself against any threat and to forge historic peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan.

As we celebrate Israel's Independence Day in the capital of this great nation, I am confident that despite all the challenges, Israel's best days and the best days of the US-Israel relationship are yet to come.

Chag Sameach