Support For Israel
Ireland has been outspoken in her support for Israel, visiting the country for the first time in 2007. In an interview with the Jewish Journal, she was quoted as saying “It’s such a beautiful place, just breathtaking. I was really surprised by the beauty and just how magnificently it’s preserved. And the people are incredible, and the landscape so diverse. There’s no place like it.”
On October 15, 2009, she became an international ambassador ambassador for the Friends of Sheba Medical Center, traveling back to the country in 2010 to film a documentary entitled Holy Land Heroes highlighting its work for wounded soldiers and terror victims.
On June 23, 2011, Ireland was honored by the Anti-Defamation League with the American Heritage Award.
Ireland accepted an invitation to speak at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) National Convention on March 5, 2012, where she addressed over 13,000 attendees. She spoke of the state's lush beauty, its stand-alone characteristics of unwavering commitment to democracy and freedom in the Middle East. She also enumerated its quick first-response to crises such as Hurricaine Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti. She received the longest round of applause for her response to attacks against Israel, saying:
"There are still those around the world who are unrelenting in their war of words against the Jewish state and personally this is something I find extremely disturbing. How often have we heard, 'Why can't Israel just give back the land? Why can't Israel just stop the fighting?' Israel seeks no battles. Israel wishes to live in peace. Israel is one sixth of one percent of the entire Middle East. Israel is surrounded by oil-rich neighbors who could invest more in their people, their development, their humanity, instead of devoting resources to the slaughter of innocent lives."
She was most recently recognized at the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Gala honoring Holocaust Survivors, in which she was the recipient of the Messenger of Peace Award.
Read more about this topic: Kathy Ireland
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