Sallai Meridor, Israel's ambassador to the United States, has had a long and varied diplomatic and civil service career, but one that the low-key envoy has mostly spent out of the limelight.

Appointed to his current post by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2006, Meridor served as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization (WZO) from 1999-2005. Prior to that, Meridor was treasurer of the Jewish Agency and WZO,  and headed the WZO Settlement Division.

A soft-spoken and youthful grandfather of four, Meridor, 52, is a Jerusalem native who has lived in the West Bank. However, he believes in the concept of territorial compromise and has supported the disengagement plan for that area.

During his tenure as Jewish Agency chair, Meridor focused on developing the Masa initiative, a national effort to bring 20,000 young Diaspora Jews to Israel for participation in a variety of educational programs. Under his leadership, the Jewish Agency also stepped up efforts to help Jews from around the world make successful aliyah and smooth transitions into Israeli society.

Meridor was also instrumental in mobilizing a global Jewish emergency campaign in response to repeated terrorist attacks in Israel.

Before his arrival at the Jewish Agency, Meridor served as advisor to the ministers of defense and of foreign affairs. He was involved in the process that led to the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991 and took part in negotiations that followed as the representative of the Ministry of Defense.

Meridor, a keen observer of unfolding world events, has said that Israel remains watchful of Iran and will consider all courses of action for dealing with that country's nuclear development plans. He spoke to Senior Editor Janet Lubman Rathner about his views on Iran, as well as Israel at 60 — and the future of the Jewish state.

In your opinion, will the recent Annapolis Summit move the peace process forward? And what needs to be done to follow up? President Bush is talking about a deal. Is that doable now, or is Israel still facing the same enemies that historically have been aiming to destroy it?

We are facing very serious threats surrounding Israel, both from the growing danger of a nuclear Iran and terrorism—be it from Hezbollah in the north or Palestinian terrorism in Gaza, which is led today by Hamas. Luckily, thanks to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], we have been able to decrease the threat of terror from the West Bank. But still, this is something that our boys and girls have to work on every day and every night, to assure that the level of terror we are exposed to is contained.

Having said all that, there is nothing Israel and Israelis want more than peace and having a historic compromise with our Palestinian neighbors and bringing about a situation on the two-state solution; two national homelands for two peoples, living side by side in security, peace, dignity. And we are, against many odds, going to make every effort possible, humanly possible…to try to reach an agreement with the Palestinians and advance toward peace.

It will take more than one [side] for this, and it would take, on the part of the Palestinians, the readiness to make a historic compromise. And it will take, on their part, [a commitment] to really build [strength] that would prove to themselves and to the Israeli society that they are able to govern themselves and provide for security as a neighbor. And it could be assisted by a change of attitude by many of the Arab countries who could create an atmosphere that is conducive to peace and supportive of peace in the Middle East. So we, Israel, are going to make—are making—a very serious effort, and we hope that the Palestinians and the Arabs will do the same.

Does the Hamas-PLO schism make resolving this Israeli-Palestinian situation more difficult?

I do not want to get into internal Palestinian issues. All I can say is that the first effect is that Gaza is totally controlled today by a terror organization that is committed to the destruction of the State of Israel. It is obviously not making it easier to bring about a reality of two states living side by side in peace when you have a significant part of the other side run by terrorists and committed to your destruction.

So, yes, it made it more difficult [to have] ongoing terror from Gaza. We are talking about close to 800 rockets and mortars in 50 days. There is a bomb or a rocket or a mortar or a shell every 90 minutes. This does not help create an environment of trust and hope for peace.

But having said that, we know it is more difficult today. The question is whether it leads you to give up on hope or leads you to try, with open eyes, to work with what you can work with. And this is a strategic decision—not to retire from our efforts to advance peace, and to recognize the reality and carefully but vigorously try to change it.

Is Iran the nuclear threat that it is thought to be? What do you think are Israel's options in dealing with this country, and do you think Iran's president speaks for his people when he calls for Israel's destruction?

Let's start from the end. I think that we, the Jewish people, cannot allow ourselves not to take seriously the threats made by leaders to destroy the Jewish people. We have had our experiences, and it [would] be utterly irresponsible on the part of the Jewish people to underestimate or play down threats that are made against the Jewish people.

Unfortunately, the fact of whether it does or does not represent the Iranian people is almost irrelevant, because the ones who are going to make decisions about Iran's behavior, Iran being not democratic, are not the people of Iran but the leadership of Iran. And the leadership of Iran is allowing this president to make these statements. If the supreme leader of Iran did not want him to make these statements, we would not have read [them]. So, the alarming thing here is the fact that these statements are being made and could not have been made unless the top leadership of the Iranian state—the mullahs and the supreme leader—would support them...It is a very real threat, not only to Israel and I would say not only to the Middle East; it is a very real threat to the entire free world.

If Iran, God forbid, goes nuclear, we would be leaving for our children and grandchildren a very different world, with a regime that is [driven by] hatred, religiously fanatic[al]; a master of terror equipped with military nuclear capacity. Whether they use it directly or indirectly, the consequences for the world could be devastating.

Let alone the fact that one can more than assume that, if the Iranians are not stopped, other countries will follow and you [could] have a nuclear arms race developing in this region, with the regimes of different natures [and] the very serious danger that such nuclear military capacity [would create] in the hands of either a rogue regime or non-state actor, like alQaeda or Islamic Jihad or Hezbollah. So, we are talking about, I think, since World War II, the most serious threat that the world [has faced].

We hope that the world will respond responsibly with a combination of diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran to change course and with making it very clear to Iranians that all options are on the table and that, if diplomacy fails, still the world will find a way not to allow them to create this threat for the future of the entire free world.

Israel is contributing its own part and is dedicating a lot of our energy in many different ways…to try to prevent this threat from becoming real.

Israel is turning 60 this year. What are her accomplishments and what issues, both political and social, does she face in the next 60 years?

Well, Israel is an unbelievable, unparalleled success story. You look at the accomplishments in the past 60 years, and you cannot find any example similar: after 2,000 years, having to take in close to 6 million Jews from more than 100 countries [and] build a modern society, a vibrant society; being able to create and develop a very vibrant democracy, in an area where this is a great rarity, under very difficult conditions, with being at war imposed on us; [developing] an economy that is growing fantastically; and a young generation [developing] innovations, which is, again, remarkable—maybe, again, unparalleled—if you compare it to the size of Israel and the challenges that Israel has to face. If you look at every high-tech development in the world, you are quite likely to find an Israeli innovation in it.

Also, Israel is a Western society that is maintaining a significant, positive growth rate, which I hope is a reflection of optimism, and a social system that allows Israel to be, at the same time, more advanced [and] self-fulfilling without compromising various needs of family and children. So altogether, I think that anybody who is giving it an objective look—not like mine—will tell you that this is almost a miracle.

And the challenges Israel faces in the future?

We have many challenges facing us. You ask me to look 60 years ahead: I hope that the historic process of the gathering of Jewish people to the land of Israel will continue. I hope that, in 60 years' time, 60 percent of the Jewish people will live in their homeland rather than today's 40 percent, with 60 percent in…[the] Diaspora.

I hope that we will be able to enlarge the circle of peace and allow our people the very basic right of being able to live in peace, free from the threat of war and terror. I would hope that we will have our economy continue to grow in a way that will make Israel similar to the average OECD [Organization of European Cooperation and Development] country. We are now entering the OECD; we hope that, 60 years from now, we will be in a good place in the middle. We hope that our society will develop in ways [so] that…

Israel grows as a Jewish and democratic state, and that we will serve in ways as a [beacon] to the Jewish people and to the nations of the world.

We have accomplished a lot and there is much more to accomplish, and this is the beauty of Zionism and, maybe, even in a deeper sense, this is the beauty of Judaism—that, as much as you go forward, the road is never-ending.

What can the Jewish Diaspora and B'nai B'rith do to help Israel, both on a social and political level? And does the Diaspora have a right to voice an opinion on how Israel handles its social and political issues?

Let me try to deal with both issues. One, Israel is the creation of the Jewish people; it is of, by, and for the Jewish people. This unbelievable achievement of the State of Israel would not [have] been possible if not for the Jewish people. Obviously, friends of Israel helped. Obviously, our greatest friend, the United States of America, was and is essential to the success of Israel.

However, it is the creation of the Jewish people. As you look at the people in Israel, who are the Israelis? They are Jews from the Diaspora who made the choice to come and rebuild a Jewish state in Israel. If you look at every element of Israeli society — almost every institution, every building, every absorption of every wave of immigrants — there is hardly anything that we are doing that is not in major partnership with the Jewish people. So we are proud to be of the Jewish people and for the Jewish people, and sharing responsibility with the Jewish people for the future of the entire Jewish people with Israel at its center.

Yes, the Jewish people have been a partner and will always be a partner, given Israel what it is. They have a stake in Israel and they have a stake in the character of Israel. And it is theirs like it is mine.

On the issue of whether Jews can voice their opinions with regard to certain policies of the government of Israel, I would say first of all, in terms of the basic right to speak, …everybody has the right to say [what they think]. I think that the nature of the relationship and discussion is a discussion within a family. Why do you have a right to [speak]? Because you are a part of my family. I am willing to hear from you because you are my brother or my sister, and you are not just my neighbor or somebody from another town or city. There is a code of behavior here, as you [have] within families. Other things you say in some ways within the family; [some] things you do not say out of the family.

So I would assume that what brings Jews to care so much about Israel is that they feel that Israel is their family. Given that this is where they are coming from, I assume that they want to act in this relationship just as all of us would like ourselves to act within a family setup.