McCain Addresses Middle East Conflicts in Hanukah Dinner Keynote

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) received one of the six honorary degrees conferred at the eighty-second annual Hanukah dinner and convocation held at the Waldorf-Astoria on December 10. Yeshiva president Richard M. Joel announced at the affair that this year's dinner raised $1.7 million.

Mr. McCain's keynote address on the current state of the Middle East and a video presentation celebrating Yeshiva Board of Trustees member Ronald Stanton, who recently donated $100 million for the creation of a revolving door fund to be used at President Joel's discretion, highlighted the evening.

After conferring an honorary degree to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) last year, Yeshiva has now honored two prominent candidates for the 2008 presidential election at its past two Hanukah dinners.

Senator McCain mused upon his receiving an honor from Yeshiva that "only in America can an Episcopalian who graduated fifth from the bottom at the Naval Academy receive an honorary degree from the country's leading Jewish university."

Mr. McCain's speech focused on the major points of American interest in the Middle East, specifically American relations with Israel, the war in Iraq, and an increasingly belligerent Iran.

Beginning with a description of Israel's history, the senator related that "it is clear that Israel has been through more in less time than any nation on Earth." Yet, despite threats from Hamas and Hezbollah, who repeatedly deny Israel's right to exist, Mr. McCain optimistically stressed that, "Israel will survive... it will succeed in the face of today's threats.... There will always, always be an Israel."

Acknowledging that both Israel and the U.S. are combating terror, the senator assured that "we [America] will defeat terrorism against America and we will stand with Israel as she fights the same enemy."

Moving from America's greatest ally in the region to her largest detractor, Mr. McCain referred to Iran as the world's "chief sponsor of international terror" and "a danger to the region."

With the spectre of a nuclear Iran on the horizon and in light of Tehran turning down European calls for a cessation of nuclear activities, the senator emphasized that "every option should remain on the table" when deciding how to deal with the Islamic Republic. Qualifying this statement, he described that the exhaustion of all other options should occur prior to employing a military solution, noting that "a nuclear-armed Iran is worse than using a military solution."

Switching to Iran's troubled neighbor, the senator described how America should proceed in the Iraq war. "Iraq is going through a very difficult time... we can't wish away the many mistakes we have made there," said Mr. McCain.

Despite the mounting violence between the Shiite and Sunni factions and the U.S. death toll recently passing 3,000 soldiers, the senator said that "an American withdrawal would make the situation worse, not better." According to Mr. McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, a troop withdrawal could lead to a failed state in the heart of the Middle East.

Before closing his speech, Mr. McCain recognized the efforts made by Yeshiva students to encourage the government to bring the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan to a close. Last May, Yeshiva sent six buses to rally in Washington for this cause, more than any other school in the nation. The sentiments expressed by Mr. McCain in admiration of Yeshiva's students were also expressed by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) when he spoke at Yeshiva a month earlier.

One of the organizers of the Washington rally, Cindy Bernstein (SCW '06), was pleased to learn that the message of the rally, and Yeshiva's participation within it, reached the chambers of the senate. "I think it's wonderful that the senators made mention of the hard work that YU has done in order to raise awareness about Darfur, and I hope that next year's honoree has what to mention as well," said Ms. Bernstein, in hope that Yeshiva will continue its drive to end the genocide that has killed over 400,000 people.

Also receiving honorary degrees at the convocation were Yeshiva Trustee Felix Glaubach, Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt and former Yeshiva College Dean Daniel Kurtzer, Member of the men's division executive board of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Arnold Penner, President of K'tav Publishing Solomon Scharfstein, and Member of the Board of Directors of the Sy Syms School of Business Marcy Syms.