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Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security gave a stark assessment of the threat of homebred domestic terrorism, and the lessons to be learned from Israel's experience dealing with this threat, at the America-Israel Friendship League's (AIFL) annual Partners for Democracy Award Dinner at The Plaza in New York City Dec. 2.

"Home-based terrorism is here. And like violent extremism abroad, it will be part of the threat picture that we must now confront," Napolitano said. "Individuals sympathetic to al-Qaeda and its affiliates, as well as those inspired by the group's ideology, are present in the U.S., and would like to attack the homeland or plot overseas attacks."

The appropriate response, Napolitano said, was "strength and resolve, not alarm and anxiety."

In her address, Napolitano focused on the need of individuals and communities to be active participants in the country's national security efforts.

"The federal government cannot do this alone," she said. "Our national security is a shared responsibility. One of the values that has made our country strong in dark days from Pearl Harbor to 9/11 is the value of shared responsibility."

Napolitano went on discuss the department's cooperation with religious communities in the United States, such as the Secure Community Network (SCN), an organization dedicated to Jewish communal security.

"So we can share our expertise about preparedness and response, and so we can learn about how Jewish American institutions deal with this," Napolitano said about the department's partnership with SCN.

Napolitano, an alumna of an AIFL sponsored trip to Israel for states' attorneys general when she was the attorney general of Arizona, spoke about how the U.S. can learn from Israel's experience.

"Israel has lived with the terror threat since its founding, but has continued with vigilance and endurance," she said.

AIFL's mission, according to its Web site, is "to strengthen the ties between the people of the United States and Israel -- bridging distances to reveal the beauty, the humanity, and the modern democratic values that define both nations."

To accomplish this mission, AIFL brings diverse groups of Americans from high school students to politicians to Israel and also sponsors trips of Israelis (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) to the United States.

At the annual dinner, Lester Crown, the chairman of Henry Crown and Company and Michael Federmann, the chairman and CEO of Federmann Enterprises Ltd. were honored with the 2009 Partners for Democracy Award for their contributions toward fostering the U.S.-Israel relationship.

"The award recognizes and pays tribute to successful efforts in the United States and in Israel that cultivate and strengthen relations, common bonds, and mutual respect between the people of the two countries," according to an AIFL statement.

Following Napolitano's speech, Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the U.S. and a native of New Jersey, addressed the crowd.

Oren, who became ambassador after a prolific writer and scholar on the Middle East and American foreign policy in the region, said that after decades of researching and writing about the U.S.-Israel relationship it wasn't until he assumed his current position that he realized "the relationship was deeper and more multifaceted than I ever imagined."

In addition to the strategic relationship that emerged after the Six-Day War of 1967, Oren touched upon the trade, commercial, and academic research interactions between the two countries.

The U.S. and Israel will, Oren said, continue their "deep and abiding friendship. I am fully confident in that."

Dan Gillerman, the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, praised the AIFL for helping to foster the strong relationship between the two countries and its peoples.

"This evening is not about politics, it's not even about the relations of the two countries," he said. "It's an evening about love between two peoples, the people of the United States and the people of Israel."