Sir Evelyn, Mr. Galil, Immanuel JakobovitsChief Rabbi, your excellency, my lords, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for the very great honour you do me, — first by making me an honorary doctor of technical sciences of the Technion university and, — second, by naming the centre for computational chemistry at the university after me.
Science and life
Science is one of the passions of my life. And one of the most interesting aspects of the modern world is the degree to which science is becoming more and more relevant to politics:- — for understanding the environment, — for achieving the industrial and economic success that every country desires, [end p1] — for coping with the complexity of modern military technology and its influence on strategy.
Some of my most fascinating times as Prime Minister have been the seminars which I have held with scientists from different disciplines—whether it be the environment, or medicine, or just getting together the most brilliant of our young scientists from every field.
We had one recently and spent a whole day hearing about the latest scientific developments: — a young woman carrying out research into the genetic defects which cause cystic fibrosis, to help find a cure for that terrible disease. — a young man researching in particle physics to try to find the key to what our universe is made of. — another one seeking out new ways of producing antibiotics. [end p2]
All right, some of the subjects do sound a bit obscure. “properties of novel low dimensional semiconductor heterostructures in high magnetic fields” might not seem everyone's idea of fun.
But when you get these young people, all brilliant, all dedicated, they make their subjects come alive and you cannot ask for anything more stimulating than talking to them.
The way you have honoured me this evening thus gives me very special pleasure and I thank you for that.
To have a centre for computational chemistry named after me is also a reminder of the very rapid pace at which science develops.
After all, it is not long ago—well not very long ago—that I was a practising chemist. But we did not have [end p3] computational chemistry. We did it all by hand, so to speak. The age before microelectronics seems like the stone age of chemistry.
Of course each new advance ensures that the next one will be made even more quickly. It is science more than anything else which demonstrates the inevitability of progress and makes us understand that we can't hold it up—as some of the Green organisations would have us believe when they propose going back to simple village life and halving our population by some means which have not been revealed.
We can only try to guide and direct progress into ways which serve the needs of mankind, whether it be for sustenance for health for defence or for any one of a myriad different purposes.
As we begin to understand the [end p4] damage to our global environment which has been done in the cause of progress in the past, so we rely on science to help us now to find ways to put things right again.
When we look at the problems science has already solved, then we can be confident that it will help us overcome these new problems too—of the oceans, of the atmosphere, of pollution and climate change.
The Technion university
But my pleasure this evening is also at the connection with the Technion, whose reputation stands at the heart of Israel's [end p5] enormous scientific achievement. It has been said that “without Technion there would be no Israel” . Indeed, 75 per cent of the scientists working in Israel are Technion graduates. Not only have they made the deesert green and created a modern industrial base; they have built up a worldwide reputation for excellence in basic research. Technion also has a particular link with Britain. The university's central auditorium is named after [end p6] Winston Churchill, always a great friend of Israel, and the link is continued through Churchill college, Cambridge.
The British supporters of Technion have been outstanding in their generosity. I congratulate the British society and its chairman, Sydney Corob, for their work in this respect. I know that one of the purposes of the dinner tonight is to help raise yet more funds for the university and I am sure you will all live up to the wonderful reputation of our Jewish community for their generosity to good causes. [end p7]
The ability to apply science in ways which are commercially successful is also important. And it is that which is constantly changing our lives.
When I travel to the far side of the world, I find ever more sophisticated machines being supplied to keep me in touch with London.
Miniature word processors so that my secretaries can carry on typing as we fly through the night.
The fax which supplies a steady stream of documents as though I had never left London.
I sometimes feel it's a bit of a mixed blessing. I read with nostalgia of the days when Harold Macmillan could make a foreign visit lasting weeks, not just days, undisturbed by such modern contraptions. [end p8]
Judaism and human rights
Mr. Chairman, I do not want to devote the whole of my remarks this evening to science and technology.
It is of course a very special day for the state of Israel and for its friends and supporters in Britain: Balfour day.
Your own family, Mr. Chairman, was intimately connected with the events leading to the issue of the Balfour declaration: and I remember the occasion when your cousin Dorothy De Rothschild came to dinner at no.10 Downing street some two or three years ago, when she was well into her nineties. As she came along the receiving line, she looked around at no.10 and said in an entirely natural way: “it is good to see it again. I was last here in Asquith's time” .
Mr. Chairman, we should always remember that the concept of human rights, which is at the heart of everything in [end p9] which we believe, derives from judaism. The dignity of the individual and his accountability for his actions are central to the Jewish faith.
So too is the notion of duties as well as rights. As the Immanuel JakobovitsChief Rabbi has reminded us, there is no bill of rights in the biblical tradition: there are only ten commandments. The stress is not on what we may claim, but on the debt we owe: the duty to give, the duty to help future generations, the obligation to give back more than we have received.
This recognition that each of us is not just a number in a computer but a precious individual has made our whole Western concept of democracy and liberty such a powerful force in the world.
It is this which has inspired the fantastic vigil on behalf of human rights in the Soviet Union by such groups as the [end p10] women's campaign for Soviet Jewry. They have kept up the pressure on governments always to raise questions of human rights in all our dealings with the Soviet government, and never to bow down to tyranny or accept the denial of those rights by the state.
Now we are beginning to see the results of that campaign. When I saw Mr. Gorbachev in September, he assured me that, under new legislation being prepared, anyone who wants to leave the Soviet Union will be free to do so. We are seeing long-standing cases resolved, and none has given more pleasure than that of George Samoilovich.
We shall not rest until all those who want to leave have been able to do so: and until all those who remain can practise their religion without hindrance and in a proper place of worship.
But there is another very important lesson that we derive [end p11] from judaism: that you cannot deny to others qualities you claim for yourself.
Because of its religious origins, the world expects the highest possible standards from Israel in law, in democracy and in human rights. Indeed it expects more of Israel than it would of many other countries.
We realise the dangers which Israel faces. We know the terrible history of the tragedies inflicted on the Jewish people.
But we also believe that Israel's greatest ambition is to dwell in peace and safety with her neighbours: and that [end p12] can only be achieved by understanding the fears and hopes of the Palestinians as well as one's own, and finding ways in which their needs can reasonably be satisfied in a way compatible with Israel's security.
So our greatest wish is that the opportunities for peace will not be allowed to slip away, but that the leaders of Israel will show the same wisdom and genius as their predecessors, so that Israel's limitless potential in the fields we celebrate tonight—the sciences and technology—can be realised, and the benefits extended throughout the region in which Israel has its home.
Conclusion
Mr. Chairman, Israel has taught us, has taught the world, so much.
We remember the selfless dedication to their cause shown by the early pioneers. [end p13]
We recall the constant readiness of the state of Israel to defend itself.
We are thankful for Israel's undaunted courage in confronting terrorism as at Entebbe.
We applaud the help Israel has given to african countries to make the desert bloom again.
Above all we honour the tremendous contribution which the Jewish faith has made to our values, our beliefs and all that is best in civilisation.
When we reflect on all those things, Mr. Chairman, we have to acknowledge the enormous debt we owe to Israel, to the Jewish faith and to our own Jewish community here.
I thank you once again, Mr. Chairman, for the honour which you have done me this evening and wish you every success [end p14] in your great endeavours on behalf of the Technion university.