SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
HEBREW UNIVERSITY, JERUSALEM
28 JANUARY 1987
To BE GRANTED THE DEGREE OF DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY HONORIS
CAUSA--BY-T-I-S-GREAT-UN. IVER. SLTY IS__ NE OF THE HIGHEST HONOURS
ISRAEL CAN OFFER, AND I FEEL DEEPLY HUMBLED BY YOUR GENEROSITY.
I i-S NOW NEAR LY SEVENTY -YEARS-SI NCE-THE-UN IVERSI TY-S-TWEVEFOUNDATION
STONES, REPRESENTING THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL,
WERE LAID HERE AT MT SCOPUS, SIGNALLING THE START OF THE GREAT
ACADEMIC VENTURE OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY.
BACK IN 1918, THE STATE OF ISRAEL WAS STILL A DREAM, SO THE
DECISION TO LAY THOSE FOUNDATION STONES AND ESTABLISH A
UNIVERSITY FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE REQUIRED FORESIGHT, PERSISTENCE
AND COURAGE.
IT DOUBTLESS HAD ITS CRITICS THOSE WHO FELT THAT, IN 1918, WITH
SO MUCH ELSE STILL TO DO, A UNIVERSITY WAS NOT NEEDED.
BUT AT THAT FOUNDATION CEREMONY NEARLY SEVEN DECADES AGO,
DR CHAIM WEIZMANN WHO WAS TO BECOME THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF
THE-STATE OF ISRAEL, EXPLAINED WHY . HE BELIEVED-HEBREW UNIVERSITY
WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT PRIORITY FOR THE TIME. S
" IT IS TRUE THAT GREAT SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROBLEMS
STILL FACE US AND DEMAND THEIR SOLUTION FROM US",
DR WEIZMANN SAID.
" WE JEWS KNOW, HOWEVER, THAT WHEN OUR MIND IS GIVEN FULL
PLAY, WHEN WE HAVE A CENTRE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF
J-EWI-SH-CONSC-I-OU SNESS--THEN-CG-NC-ID EN-TALLY-WE-ATTAI-N-----
THE FULFILLMENT OF OUR MATERIAL NEEDS".
DR-IEIZMANNSS' WORDS IMPLIED A SYMBIOSIS EXISTED BETWEEN THIS
INSTITUTION AND THE WHOLE JEWISH PEOPLE. AND LOOKING BACK
OVER THE LONG AND SUCCESSFUL HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY WHO CAN
GAINSAY HIS VISION?
THE GROWTH OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY HAS INDEED EXEMPLIFIED MUCH
THAT IS SO GREAT AND MUCH THAT IS SO TRAGIC ABOUT THE STRUGGLE
AND ACHIEVEMENT OF JEWS IN CREATING THE STATE OF ISRAEL.
THROUGH MANY DIFFICULTIES, THAT YOU KNOW BETTER THAN I,
HEBREW UNIVERSITY HAS SURVIVED AND PROSPERED LIKE ISRAEL
ITSELF. YOU ARE INDEED, IN DR WEIZMANN'S WORDS, A " CENTRE FOR
THE DEVELOPMENT OF JEWISH CONSCIOUSNESS", AND YOUR ACADEMIC
STRENGTHS, RANGING ACROSS THE SPECTRUM OF THE SCIENCES, THE
PROFESSIONS AND THE HUMANITIES, ARE MAKING AN INVALUABLE
-CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNDERSTANDING-AND-GROWTH-OF -THE-ISRAELI--COMMUN. IT W7 W
BUT YOU ARE MORE THAN THAT TOO. HEBREW UNIVERSITY IS NOT
JUST AN ISRAELI UNIVERSITY BUT, INCREASINGLY. ONE WITH A
PERSPECTIVE ON THE WHOLE MIDDLE EASTERN REGION.
A STRIKING FEATURE OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS BEEN THAT YOU ARE NOT
ONLY GUIDING THE INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF ISRAEL BUT
ALS-ENGAGING IN THE EXCHARGE OF-I-DEAS-WI-TH-ACADEMICS
THROUGHOUT THE REGION AND INDEED, THROUGH THE WORLD.
YOUR SYLLABUS COVERS NOT JUST JEWISH STUDIES BUT MIDDLE
EASTERN STUDIES AS A WHOLE, AND YOUR INTELLECTUAL BREADTH
IS MATCHED BY THE DIVERSITY OF YOUR STUDENT BODY.
IT IS A PARTICULAR SOURCE OF PRIDE TO ME AS THE PRIME MINISTEROF
AUSTRALIA THAT AUSTRALIANS HAVE BEEN SO CLOSELY LINKED WITH
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS INSTITUTION.
THE AUSTRALIAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY WAS ESTABLISHED
IN 1936, ONLY EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE FIRST STUDENTS WERE
ADMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY$
ITS NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDE THE BLANKFIELD POLITICAL
SCIENCE BUILDING, THE TWO SIR ZELMAN COWEN FUNDS FOR ACADEMIC
EXCHANGES, THE AUSTRALIA HOUSE DORMITORY AN DI AM. DELIGHTED . O
SAY, THE BOB HAWKE MEDICAL RESEARCH ENDOWMENT WHICH WAS
ESTABLISHED IN 1977.
THE GOLDA MEIR FELLOWSHIP FUND, A SCHEME WHICH HONOURS A GREAT
LABOR LEADER AND A GREAT WOMAN, HAS BEEN HEAVILY SUPPORTED BY
AUSTRALIAN CONTRIBUTORS AND ONE AUSTRALIAN HAS ALREADY WON A
FELLOWSHIP. I HAD THE PLEASURE OF INAUGURATING THE GOLDA MEIR FUND
IN AUSTRALIA LAST YEAR.
FOUR AUSTRALIAN ACADEMICS ARE CURRENTLY TEACHERS AT THIS
UNLVERS. LTYAND A-NUMBER--OF-YOUNG-AUSTRALIANS--1-4CLUD-ING-A--------
GROUP OF NURSES, IS STUDYING HERE. AT THE SAME TIME, THREE
OF YOUR TEACHING STAFF ARE ON STUDY LEAVE IN AUSTRALIA.
THREE AUSTRALIANS ARE GOVERNORS OF THE UNIVERSITY BEREL GINGES,
ISADOR MAGID AND ISRAEL BLANKFIELD, AND, AS IF THIS LIST WERE
NOT ENOUGH, SiR ZELMAN COWAN, THE DISTINGUISHED AUSTRALIAN
LAWYER, AND OUR FORMER GOVERNOR-GENERAL, IS AN ACADEMIC
GOVERNOR OF-THE UNIVERSITY. SIR ZELMAN, WHO IS NOW PROVOST
OF ORIEL COLLEGE AT OXFORD, WAS BEFORE TODAY THE ONLY
AUSTRALIAN HONOURED BY YOU AS RECIPIENT OF AN HONORARY
DOCTORATE, THAT LIST OF AUSTRALIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO AND BENEFICIARIES
OF THIS UNIVERSITY IS EXTENSIVE AND IMPRESSIVE. BUT ON
REFLECTION IT APPEARS ENTIRELY REASONABLE THAT WE AS A NATION
SHOULD BE SO CLOSE TO YOU.
FOR THE AUSTRALIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY HAS. A _ R. ICH_ AND.-GLITIERING
INTELLECTUAL LIFE. SINCE THE EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT OF AUSTRALIA
BEGAN NEARLY TWO CENTURIES AGO, IN 1788, JEWISH ACADEMICS,
WRITERS, ARTISTS AND COMPOSERS HAVE BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR
NATIONAL ENDEAVOUR.
AUSTRALIA HAS CALLED UPON JEWS TO BE HEAD OF ITS ARMED FORCES,
HEAD OF ITS JUDICIARY AND, TWICE, HEAD OF STATE.
BUT TODAY I CANNOT LET PASS THE OPPORTUNITY TO NAME ONE MAN
WHOSE INTELLECTUAL BRILLIANCE AND UNQUENCHABLE INTEGRITY
EPITOMISES THE LASTING JEWISH IMPACT ON AUSTRALIAN LIFE.
JUL-US-STNEjjURIST, TEACHER, PUBLICIST, INTERNATIONALIST,
WAS A MAN WHOM I NOT ONLY-RESPECTED -AS--AN-INTELLECTUAL
HAD THE HONOUR TO KNOW AND LOVE AS A FRIEND.
JULIUS STONE DIED IN SEPTEMBER 1984 AT THE AGE OF 77 BUT
HIS ACHIEVEMENTS SURVIVE BOTH IN HIS WRITTEN WORK AND IN THE
WISDOM HE PASSED ON TO HIS STUDENTS,
THERE ARE SOMESPECIAL LINKS BETWEEN JULIUS STONE AND THIS
UNIVERSITY WHICH I WANT TO MENTION, -JULIUS WAS AN ACADEMIC
DIRECTOR AND HEAD OF YOUR TRUMAN CENTRE FOR'THE ADVANCEMENT OF
PEACE, AND THERE IS AN ENDOWMENT TO ESTABLISHWT'THIS UNIVERSITY
A JULIUS AND RECA STONE SCHOLARSHIP HERE, WHICH WOULD CERTAINLY
BE A FITTING MEMORIAL. IT IS A PARTICULAR JOY TO MENTION
TOO, THAT JULIUS' SON MICHAEL IS YOUR PROFESSOR OF ARMENIAN
STUDIES, So THE BONDS WHICH LINK AUSTRALIA TO THIS CAMPUS ARE STRONG
AND GROWING STRONGER,
fRST AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT ISRAEL I AM
HAT YOU CHOSE ME AS THE RECIPIENT OF AN HONORARY
E PARTICULARLY AS YOU HAD ALREADY AWARDED ME AN
HONORARY FELLOWSHIP OF THE UNIVERSITY IN FEBRUARY 1978 WHEN 1
WAS PRESIDENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS.
THIS IS NOT OF COURSE THE FIRST TIME I HAVE MADE THE JOURNEY TO
TH-I-S-C-OUNTRY.--BUT-W-I-TH-EV-ERY-V-S-I-T-I AM-IMPRE-SS-ED-ANEW-BY--
IT, ENTHUSED BY YOUR ENTHUSIASM, STUNNED BY YOUR RESILENCE AND
MOVED BY YOUR STRUGGLE.
MY RESPONSE WAS, IN PART, THE HUMAN RESPONSE TO THE
GREAT DRAMA OF THE FOUNDATION AND GROWTH OF ISRAEL ON THE
ASHES OF THE HOLOCAUST.
BUT I WAS IMPRESSED TOO FOR A NUMBER OF. SPECIFICALLY AUSTRALIAN
REASONS.
AS A MEMBER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY,-I COULD NOT-FAIL TO
BE IMPRESSED BY THE ELECTORAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUCCESS OF
YOUR LABOR PARTY. WHEN I FIRST VISITED ISRAEL, IN 1971, LABOR
HAD BEEN IN POWER HERE FOR MORE THAN IqENTY YEARS ABOUT THE
SAME NUMBER OF YEARS AS WE IN AUSTRALIA HAD ENDURED OF CONSERVATIVE
RULE. As A TRADE UNION LEADER,-I -COULD NOT-. FAIL TO ADMIRE--THE-ISRAELITRADE
UNION MOVEMENT, WITH ITS TOTAL COMMITMENT TO THE ISRAELI
PEOPLE, AND ITS THOROUGH ACCEPTANCE BY THEM.
CERTAINLY, AS LEADER OF AN AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNION MOVEMENT
WHICH WAS AT THE TIME NOT ONLY EXCLUDED FROM THE FORUMS OF
DECISION MAKING BUT NOT INFREQUENTLY VILIFIED BY THE
GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY, THE HISTADRUT MADE A LASTING IMPRESSION
ON ME.
As A SOCIAL DEMOCRAT VISITING ISRAEL IN 1971, I COULD NOT FAIL
TO RESPECT THE SUCCESSFUL WAY IN WHICH YOU HAD INCARNATED
THE VISION OF DAVID BEN GURION OF A-WORKIN G-CLASS BUILDING -ITS
OWN-NATION BY DI-INT--OF-I-TS-OWN PHYSICAL_. AND_ INTELLECTUAL.
BUT TO DISCOVER THESE THINGS ABOUT ISRAELI POLITICS AND TRADE UNIONS
WAS TO CONFRONT AN EVEN MORE FUNDAMENTAL INSPIRATION OF YOUR
CIVIC LIFE: ISRAEL IS A DEMOCRACY, PROUDLY AND INCESSANTLY ENGAGED
IN DEMOCRATIC DISPUTATION ABOUT EVERY ASPECT OF NATIONAL POLICY.
YOUR KNESSET WHICH I VISITED YESTERDAY, IS ONE OF THE GREAT
DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS.
YOUR PRESS IS AS UNFETTERED AS ANY IN THE WORLD.
AND YOUR SOCIETY IS AS RESILIENT AS ANY IN ACCOMMODATING THE
FREQUENTLY UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTIONS WHICH A FREE PRESS MUST ASK.
THESE ARE FEATURES OF YOUR LIFE WHICH YOU HAVE NEVER SURRENDERED,
EVEN IN THE DARKEST MOMENTS WHEN YOUR VERY SURVIVAL WAS AT RISK.
W.
I SAY ALL OF THIS TO UNDERLINE WHAT MUST ALREADY BE APPARENT
TO YOU: I RESPECT THIS COUNTRY AND FEEL CONSTANTLY
REFRESHED AND CHALLENGED BY IT.
BUT I DON'T WANT MY PRAISE TO BE MISUNDERSTOOD. I DO NOT WANT
TO BREED COMPLACENCY ABOUT YOUR VIGOROUS AND EGALITARIAN
DEMOC-RAC-Y -NOR--FOR-THAT-MAT-TER--DO--4-WANT--N-RA-S1-NG-T4I SUNIVERSITY
TO SUGGEST THAT ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE DOES NOT NEED
TO BE CONSTANTLY AND VIGILANTLY PROTECTED.
I DO NOT WNAT MY THEME TODAY TO BE THAT OF PANGLOSS: THAT
EVERYTHING IN ISRAEL IS " FOR THE BEST IN THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE
WORLDS", IT IS FINE TO RECALL THE GREAT EARLY DAYS OF YOUR NATION, AND
TO REFLECT ON THE GLORIOUS PRINCIPLES ON WHICH IT WAS FOUNDED.
BUT IT IS NECESSARY TOO, I THINK TO-TAKE THE MEASURE OF-THE
CHANGES WHICH SEPARATE THOSE EARLY DAYS FROM THIS DIFFERENT
WORLD IN 1987.
THE OLD GENERATION OF PIONEERS HAS, SADLY, LARGELY PASSED ON.
ISRAEL IS CHANGING AND MATURING AND IS CONFRONTING TROUBLING
AND PROFOUND ISSUES OF WHICH THOSE PIONEERS KNEW LITTLE OR NOTHING.
LET ME NAME A FEW OF THOSE ISSUES.
HOW WILL ISRAEL SOLVE THE GREAT ISSUES OF POLITICAL PRINCIPLE
AND HUMAN RIGHTS, NOT TO MENTION THE DEMOGRAPHIC PRESSURES,
ENTAILED IN ITS ROLE AS ADMINISTRATOR OF OCCUPIED TERRITORIES?
WHAT CAN ISRAEL DO TO ENSURE THAT OVERSEAS JEWS SEEKING
EMIGRATION HERE SUCH AS SOVIET JEWS CAN IN FACT REACH THEIR
PROMISED LAND?
How CAN ISRAEL BEST BUILD ON THE SUCCESS -OF -THE-CAMP-DAVID
AGREEMENT TO ENSURE PEACE _ WITH ALL-_ ITS ARABNEIGHBOURSWITHIN
SECURE BOUNDARIES?
How CAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL PARTIES CONTINUE TO REPRESENT
THE PEOPLE AND EFFICIENTLY MANAGE THE STATE?
THESE ARE NOT EASY QUESTIONS, BUT I-RAISE-THEM AS A-FRIEND WHO ISFULLY
AWARE THAT AUSTRALIANS WOULD HAVE DIFFICULTY PROVIDING
SUITABLE ANSWERS TO COMPARABLE QUEST-IONS POSED ABOUT THEIR
SOCIETY.
BUT THE QUESTIONS MUST BE ASKED, AND THEY CANNOT BE IGNORED.
HAVING HAD THE TEMERITY TO RAISE THESE-ISSUES WITH YOU IN SUCH . OUTLINE
FASHION, FORGIVE ME NOW IF I HAVE THE PRESUMPTION EQUALLY BRIEFLY
TO SUGGEST WHERE ANSWERS MAY LIE. -FOR I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT
SATISFACTORY ANSWERS CAN AND WILL BE FOUND.
THE ANSWERS I BELIEVE LIE HERE, DEEP IN THE ROOTS OF THAT
JEWISH CONSCIOUSNESS OF WHICH DR WEIZMANN SPOKE.
THE RESOLUTION OF THESE ISSUES IS A TASK WHICH FIRST, WILL
REQUIRE THE PATIENT AND STEADY APPLICATION BOTH OF THE KIND
OF VISION WHICH LED TO THE FOUNDATION OF THIS UNIVERSITY, AND
OF THE INTELLECTUAL PRBII-G-AND-PROITYCWTHAS-1ADE-IT A
GREAT -UNIVERSITYSECONDLY, ON A MORE GENERAL PLANE, I BELIEVE THE ANSWERS TO THE
PROBLEMS OF TODAY'S ISRAEL LIE IN KEEPING ALIVE AND APPLYING
ANEW THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH THE STATE WAS ORIGINALLY FOUNDED.
THESE PRINCIPLES EGALITARIANISM, THE DIGNITY OF LABOR, DEVOTION
TO A JEWISH HOMELAND, AND UNDURINGLY DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
PROVIDE A SOUND PATH FROM YOUR PAST._ TO. YOUR FUTURE,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
IN LOOKING BACK TO THE ROOTS OF THIS UNIVERSITY AND THIS
NATION, ONE CANNOT FAIL TO ENCOUNTER THE GIGANTIC PRESENCE OF
ALBERT EINSTEIN.
EINSTEIN OF. COURSE WAS CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH THE EARLY-DAYS OF
HEBREW UNIVERSITY. ALONG WITH SIGMUND FREUD, MARTIN BAbER,
CHAIM WEIZMANN AND OTHERS HE WAS A MEMBER OFTHE FIRST BOARDOF
GOVERNORS.
ONE WONDERS, IN PASSING, WHAT BRILLIANT CONVERSATIONS THOSE
DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMENT MIGHT HAVE HAD AT THEIR BOARD MEETINGS!
EINSTEIN HAD A CLEAR VISION OF THE ROLE OF THE UNIVERSITY IN
THE WORLD AND I CAN DO NO BETTER TODAY THAN TO CONCLUDE WITH
HIS WORDS. FOR I BELIEVE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN NO DOUBT ABOUT
THE INSPIRATION PROVIDED BY THESE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH THE
ISRAELI STATE WAS FOUNDED.
" ISHOULD LIKE TO EXPRESSTHHOEINENSAD
" THAT-TEACHER-S---AND STUDENTS-WILL ALWAYS PRESERVE THE
CONSCIOUSNESS THAT THEY SERVE THEIR PEOPLE BEST WHEN
THEY MAINTAIN ITS UNION WITH HUMANITY AND WITH THE
HIGHEST HUMAN VALUES.
" IN THE COURSE OF TIME THIS INSTITUTION WILL DEMONSTRATE
WITH THE GREATEST CLEARNESS THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF WHICH
THE JEWISH SPIRIT I-S CAPABLE".
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
THEY WERE PROPHETIC WORDS. THROUGH-YOUR EFFORTS THEY ARE
BEING FULFILLED EVERY DAY.
THANK YOU