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

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."