Taking notice of the sound of a loud air conditioning system during her speech Thursday night, Ambassador Collette Avital was reminded of a similar problem she had witnessed decades ago during a meeting with Israeli leader Golda Meir. One by one each of the Foreign Ministry men at the table rose and tried to turn off the noisy condenser with its power switch, but to no avail.

After the last one sat down, recalled Avital, the iconic prime minister walked over and simply unplugged the unit.

“She belonged to a generation of men and women who were both visionaries and pragmatists,” said Avital. “Nothing was impossible. There was a shortcut to the right solution. This is one of the typical things that characterized not only Golda but a whole generation of Israeli leaders.”

Avital’s talk, “Achieving Two States: Why the Security of Israel Depends on it,” was delivered to about 50 attendees at the Regional Arts Commission during a joint presentation with Jeremy Ben-Ami, executive director of J Street, a progressive Jewish organization.

The event marked the inaugural of J Street St. Louis, a newly formed local branch of the group. J Street bills itself as the “political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans.” A leadership team has not been worked out for the St. Louis chapter. Last week’s event was coordinated by Stephen Skrainka of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

“Anyone who is interested should get in touch with J Street and sign up on its website,” he said.

The introductory talk was given by Ben-Ami, a former domestic policy advisor to President Bill Clinton. Ben-Ami, who was also policy director for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, has served in a variety of senior communications positions in the private sector as well.

Ben-Ami, who has lived in the Jewish State, told the gathering that Israel held a deep personal significance for him. Not only was his father born there but his great-grandparents had come to the region as early as the 1880s. His grandparents were among the early families to settle in Tel Aviv. It was that connection that led him to create J Street, which in less than three years has grown to include 35 local chapters and a $5 million budget. Its political action committee has raised and distributed $1.4 million for candidates.

He said the group represents the perspective of those who believe strongly in a peaceful two-state solution and progressive support for Israel.

“There wasn’t a voice that spoke on our behalf that said the only way that Israel is going to make it for another 62 years as a secure Jewish home is if we reach a two-state peace agreement with the Palestinian people,” he said. “The only way to ensure that for my children and grandchildren that there will be a State of Israel is if we have internationally recognized borders and we have a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security.”

Ben-Ami expressed gratitude and admiration for Israeli advocacy efforts by older groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, saying they have been effective in creating a strategic partnership between public officials and the Jewish State and securing continued U.S. military assistance. However, he said that all too often the tone of the discourse has been both limited and increasingly hawkish.

“Part of what we are doing is challenging the traditional guardians of what I would call the pro-Israel gospel who have for decades set the terms of debate and required an Israel right or wrong attitude of blind support,” he said.

The second presentation came from Avital. A former deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset, the Romanian native is most notable for her diplomatic work, which spans stints in Montreal, Brussels, Paris, Lisbon and the United States.

Avital, who began her work at the Foreign Ministry in 1960, said that she was neither an optimist nor a pessimist about the peace process but rather a realist. She noted the changing dynamics of the region with the rise of Iran and Turkey. She also alluded to Israel’s status as a regional superpower and its growing connections to the Muslim world.

“This is not a Middle East that just belongs to the Arabs anymore,” she said. “One of the most remarkable things is not just that we have changed but that the Middle East around us has changed.”

She said both parties in the conflict have largely come to accept a pragmatic view of the situation. Israelis realize land must be traded for peace and the West Bank cannot remain in the Jewish State’s hands indefinitely.

“Left, right and center this realism exists in the State of Israel,” she said. “This also exists on the other side. Even if they do not like it, the Palestinians understand that there is a State of Israel. They also had dreams of a greater Palestine and discovered when you want all you get nothing.”

She spoke about the expanding scourge of Islamic fundamentalism, which she said had a number of causes but one of particular concern.

“This threat is triggered and nurtured by poverty and lack of hope and the inability to cope with the modern world but it is also true that it is very actively supported and financed and armed by Iran,” she said. “Iranians use the conflict with the Palestinians in order to take over various movements. It’s not only a move against Israel but because Iran wants to dominate the area.”

She said a great opportunity has arisen as forces in the West Bank, the Arab world, Europe and the United States increasingly find peace to be in their best interests. That, she felt, leaves Israel with a decision.

“Is it going to choose, while this is still possible, the realism around it or is it going to do nothing and allow conflict to flourish and Islamism to grow?” she said. “The answer is that we have to do everything in our power to catch this opportunity.”

Avital said the window for that opportunity is closing. She said she believes that within a year, moderate voices among the Palestinian leadership will be increasingly replaced by Hamas. Inaction, she said, will only strengthen those who will never accept any Jewish presence in the region.

“I think we are running out of time,” she said. “Every time we add new houses to a settlement and take more Arab land, people don’t see the possibility that something positive is going to happen.”

Avital said the answers are obvious but not easy.

“We know what the solution is,” she said. “We have known it for a very long time. Every leader always passes it onto the next. To dismantle the settlements is a very difficult thing. It may bring us to the brink of civil war. It is doable but it is difficult.”