Daniel J.
Schultz with wife Jennifer
and son Jackson |
Daniel J. Schultz and
wife Jennifer
with Ambassador Daniel Ayalon
and
wife Anne |
Harvey Krueger and
wife Connie |
HEBREW UNIVERSITY
Dinner For Daniel
But Not For The Lion
Story by Nina Boxer
Photos by Tim Boxer
 MERICAN Friends of Hebrew University
presented its Scopus Award to Daniel J. Schultz,
managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures, at a
dinner at the St. Regis Hotel, which reminded Israeli Ambassador to
the U.S. Daniel Ayalon of a story.
A Roman emperor would entertain himself at dinner by
throwing slaves to a starved lion. A Jewish slave asked to be freed
if he could keep the lion from eating him. Of course, the emperor
agreed, chuckling at this absurd notion.
When the hungry lion got ready to pounce on his
kosher dinner, the Jew whispered in its ear. Immediately the lion
backed off.
The astonished emperor freed the Jew but demanded to
know what he said to the lion. "I told him after dinner there’ll
be speeches."
Not only were there speeches at Schultz’s dinner
but huge amounts of love and affection from the likes of Moshe
Vigdor, vice president and director general of the university; Harvey
Krueger, Lehman Bros. vice chairman; Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski
of the Jewish Community Center of Harrison, N.Y., and Uri Banin,
head of the Center for Nanoscience at Hebrew U.
In his keynote address the ambassador decried the
lack of courageous Palestinian leadership. Which is the reason there
is no partner for peace. Right from the beginning the local
Palestinians passed up every opportunity.
"In 1914 they supported the failed Ottoman
Empire, in World War Two they befriended Nazi Germany, in the Cold
War they followed the doomed Soviet Union, in the Gulf War they
sided with the defeated Saddam Hussein."
To illustrate the nonexistence of responsible
Palestinian leadership, Ayalon contrasted the two Camp Davids. In
1977 Egypt’s Anwar Sadat defied his advisers, who were
opposed to signing a treaty with Israel, by declaring himself in
favor of peace.
In Camp David 2000, Yasir Arafat’s advisers
urged him to accept Ehud Barak’s generous offer, believing
that they would never get a better deal. Instead, Arafat passed up
the opportunity for peace and opted for the intifada.
Ayalon recalled Abba Eban who said, "The
Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
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