Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. urged Palestinians to cooperate with his nation and work toward establishing definite borders between separate Palestinian and Israeli states in a speech yesterday.

Ambassador Daniel Ayalon addressed a full crowd at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum last night, laying out Israel’s greatest challenges and opportunities for the future, including the threat Hamas poses, the need to cooperate with Palestinians, and the necessity of ending violence in Israel.

“We can’t talk and kill each other at the same time,” he said.

Ayalon said this week is particularly symbolic for Israel, starting last Tuesday with Holocaust Remembrance Day and ending today with Israeli’s Independence Day, celebrating 58 years of its existence.

“A strong line connects these two dates,” Ayalon said. “It’s unfortunate and cruel that any people should pay such a high price [as the Holocaust] to be free in their own land.”

He also spoke about the international risk that Hamas poses because of its “terrorist agenda.”

He said that Hamas is trying to transform Palestinian society into an Islamic republic like Iran, which could “shut the door on peace and destabilize the entire Middle East.” According to Ayalon, Iran is not only a threat to Israel, but to the entire world because of its potential nuclear capabilities.

Ayalon said the U.S. could help stop Hamas by continuing to deny them funding.

“Hamas harbors, supports, and perpetrates terrorism,” he said. “We cannot legally fund murderers and terrorists.”

Israel wants to move toward a two-state system with clear borders and is willing “to make painful compromises” as long as it has a partner who is willing to meet it halfway, he said.

“It takes two to make peace, but unfortunately, only one to make war,” Ayalon added.

Overall, the ambassador said he was hopeful for Israel’s future and all that is needed is “resolve, creativity, and commitment to peace.”

During the question-and-answer portion of the forum, Ayalon addressed a variety of topics, from Israel’s attempts to increase tourism to his frustration that the nation’s restraint may be “misconstrued by outsiders as weakness.”

An Israeli citizen who served in the country’s defense force before coming to the College, Shira Kaplan ’08, said she thought Ayalon presented Israel’s case well.

“He did a good job as a diplomat,” she said.

Mishy M. Harman ’08 said he had a special reason for seeing Harman—his grandfather had been the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. in the ’60s.

“As a citizen of Israel, I don’t agree with everything,” he said. “But, overall, he gave a clear and coherent picture of Israel’s goals.”