By Nick Jacques, News Correspondent

Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren spoke Tuesday about the importance of Israel to the United States in a talk in Blackman Auditorium.

Oren spoke for about an hour, touching on the history of the relationship between Israel and the US, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the Iranian nuclear program and the Arab Spring. He also stressed the importance of the alliance for both Israel and America.

“Israel is not only a crucial ally of the United States, Israel is America’s ultimate ally,” Oren said.

Oren said American-Israeli relations are based around a “spiritual connection,” a “democratic affinity,” a military alliance and a burgeoning commercial relationship.

Israel has made headlines recently for its confrontational policy towards Iran’s nuclear program. Oren reflected on the positions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama.

“Israel has to be able to defend itself,” he said. “Only Israel, as a sovereign state, can decide how best to do that.”

Oren also said “all options have to be on the table,” echoing Obama’s statements regarding Iran, in which he said the US and its allies must keep pressure on Iran with “no options off the table.”

Some Western leaders believe Iran is attempting to build a nuclear weapon. Iran claims its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes. The country is vocally opposed to the existence of an Israeli state.

Oren discussed some of the broader implications of Iran having a nuclear weapon. Apart from the obvious security concern, he said it could cause oil prices to rise sharply and could lead to an arms race in the Middle East.

In response to a student who questioned Israel’s need for self-defense, even as the most well-armed nation in the region, Oren defended Israel’s nuclear program, saying “We never threatened to wipe a country off the map.”

Oren supports a two-state solution with Palestine, but expressed his dismay at the Palestinian’s unwillingness to make peace.

“The Palestinians had the opportunity; they turned us down,” he said.

Oren said the forced evacuation of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 was “the most traumatic thing [he] ever went through.” Oren took part in the dismantling of the Gaza settlement as an Israeli Army officer.

“Going into houses, pulling people away from their families, away from their tables, away from their lives, out. And we did it all to make peace,” he said. “We didn’t get peace, we got thousands and thousands of rockets fired at us.”

Oren also fought off students’ accusations of Israeli human rights violations.

When a student asked for Oren’s take on the issue, Oren said, “Well you’re assuming Israel’s guilty of vast human rights violations. I don’t know how to respond to that.”

Oren specifically defended the use of white phosphorous for military illumination in Gaza.

According to the military information website Globalsecurity.org, white phosphorous is legal under international law but can cause “painful chemical burn injuries.”

“It was used for illumination purposes in Gaza, as does the US army use it for illumination purposes. That’s how you illuminate skies. You’re not supposed to use it around civilian populations, but um…,” he trailed off.

Oren didn’t finish his thought, instead switching to discussing the evacuation of Gaza.

Oren, who was a visiting professor of Middle Eastern history at both Harvard and Yale before coming a diplomat, also discussed the long history of the two countries’ “special” relationship. He said the foundations of the relationship can be traced back to the Puritans’ settlement in modern day Massachusetts. Oren said the Puritans saw themselves as the “new Jews,” and Massachusetts as the “new promised land.”

Oren said it was because of this “spiritual connection” that President Harry Truman decided to recognize the Israeli state in 1948.

Apart from two questions regarding Israel’s alleged human rights violations, there were no protesters at the event, even though the group Northeastern Students for Justice in Palestine held its “Israeli Apartheid Week” on campus last week to raise awareness of Palestinian issues.

Before Oren’s presentation, Provost Stephen Director requested the audience remain civil saying, “Our goal is lively informed debate where we can disagree without being disagreeable.”