Shimon Peres, the President of Israel, will speak THIS EVENING at New York University on “The Globalization of Peace.” You can watch the speech live at 6:00 P.M. tonight at this site.

Following the event, you will be able to watch archived footage of the speech here. The archived footage will only be available later this evening.

Please note that you need Real Player to watch the videos

On the occasion of her forthcoming book, the New York Times Magazine features an interview with Brigitte Gabriel, an author of Lebanese Christian ancestry who has written widely in support of Israel.  The discussion covers her views on the Middle East, how Americans view religion, and a bit about Gabriel’s work.  In all, an entertaining look at a personality whose views are often overlooked.

To celebrate the 60th birthday of the State of Israel, President Shimon Peres convened a three-day symposium of world leaders and thinkers from various fields to consider the biggest issues facing the Jewish People, the State of Israel, and the world at large. 

Discussion included examinations of the relationship between the United States and Israel (with a speech from President Bush) and speeches from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Recently, the Israeli city Sderot has been attacked with dozens of deadly missiles, launched with impunity by the terrorist group Hamas. It’s a shame that the international media has yet to cover these attacks with any seriousness. If Lisbon, London, or Lyon were attacked day-in and day-out with 80 pound projectiles packed with explosives designed to kill, maim, and destroy innocent civilians the story would be plastered across every front page and every TV screen in the world. Unfortunately, this story has only received coverage when Israel decides to take appropriate defensive actions and target the people launching these missiles. The world ignores the bombing of Sderot homes, schools, nurseries, kindergartens, synagogues, and parks at its own peril. If we allow terrorists to launch missiles with impunity at an Israeli city today, it will only be a matter of time that terrorists will begin launching missiles at other, more ‘tele-visible’ cities, tomorrow.

With this in mind we took a few minutes this morning to sit down with our Ambassador here in NY to get his take on the current situation in Sderot, and what Israel’s position is regarding the ongoing attacks.