In the mid 1940s, it was a delight to associate with Jewish graduate students who had grown up in Palestine (prior to the formation of the Israeli state) at the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. Their competence and motivation was only to be matched by pride in their Jewish homeland, and the exhilarating dancing on Friday afternoons.

One of these graduate students was my brilliant friend Ray Kozlof, from Tel Aviv. He spoke proudly of a future Israeli democracy, which would be characterized by cooperation and peace with its Middle East neighbors. As a person born in Russia, who encountered daily fears of pogroms and death, I shared the hopes of my friend Kozlof. Moreover, I expected his hopes to come true.

A few years later, shortly after Israel was founded, Kozlof came to visit my wife Emily and me in Berkeley. He was so excited; the way in which he embraced and lifted Emily up in the air made me  fearhe would break her ribs. We celebrated the founding of Israel with California sparkling wine. I’ll never forget that evening; we had the absolute expectation that Israel would become the emblem of all small democratic countries in the world.

Now, at the sixtieth anniversary of Israel, it is clear to me that these hopes have been dashed by brutal circumstance. The resolution of grievances will await history, but it is indispensable to establish conditions now that the carnage ceases.

Unfortunately, this has not generally occurred. Although many others will disagree, I fully believe that the carnage between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples will one day be brought to an end. I also believe that there will come a day when Hamas will finally agree to the de facto recognition of Israel.

Currently, however, it is important to bring the strife to an end. Recent history has shown that for this to occur, an end to the targeting of missiles by Hamas at Israeli soil must be equally matched with the cessation of Israeli targeting of Hamas leaders.

Of course, these conditions are extremely difficult to achieve. We all realize the hardships on both sides are great, but they are not greater than the need.