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When Michael Oren delivered the keynote address at this year's Jewish National Fund National Conference, he did so six months after being appointed Israeli ambassador to the United States. Oren, however, envisioned his role about four decades earlier.

At the age of 15, Oren heard Yitzhak Rabin, Israel's former prime minister and then-ambassador to the U.S., speak after Shabbat during a United Synagogue Youth convention in Washington, D.C. Despite growing up in New Jersey, Oren always knew he would live in Israel, and upon seeing Rabin, declared "that's what I want to be when I grow up."

"This is the realization of a lifelong dream," Oren said on Monday near the beginning of his remarks at the Marriott in downtown Philadelphia, during a program that capped off JNF's two-day conference.

About 60 Jewish leaders from New Jersey attended the conference, Lynn Norton Robins, JNF's regional director for New Jersey, told The Jewish State. Ronald S. Lauder, chairman of JNF's board of directors, said Oren was born in West Orange upon introducing the ambassador, but Oren was quick to note that he was actually born in Johnson City, N.Y. Lauder jokingly shot back by calling Oren a "name dropper."

In his briefing on the state of U.S.-Israel relations, Oren spoke encouragingly about the countries' ability to avoid what had been highly anticipated friction on several key issues, and the Obama administration's condemnation of the September report by Judge Richard Goldstone that accused the Israel Defense Forces of war crimes in Gaza. But perhaps even more apparent from Oren's speech was his fascination with the U.S.-Israel relationship itself, an alliance he said "transcends any administration."

"We are talking about an alliance which is historical, which is spiritual, which is political and ideological. And yes, commercial," Oren said of the U.S.-Israel alliance. "Every day, it is a new source of astonishment to me."

At the start of his ambassadorship, Oren recalled how Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu shook his hand and said "Oy, are you going to have a hard job." Oren knew he was in for a challenge when he heard the same phrase from every other Israeli official, all the way down to the building security staff, he said.

With the legacy of democracy in America and Israel's place as the only democracy in the Middle East, Oren said he initially asked himself "What could be so difficult?" about fostering a harmonious relationship between the countries. His answer came when Israel elected the center-right government of Netanyahu and America the Democratic Obama administration.

"The possibility for divergence was right there," Oren said.

The first hurdle in the relationship came when Obama endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and "left it at that," Oren said. Netanyahu immediately had questions, Oren said, such as how Israel could ever afford to have a state right next door that routinely launched Kassam rockets.

"These were not abstract threats for us," Oren said. "These were real."

Israel considered Obama's demands for a settlement freeze in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem politically and physically impossible, Oren said, while Iran's practice of "robustly trying to acquire the means of attaining a military nuclear capability" provided yet another possible issue for Obama and Netanyahu to differ on.

However, Oren said Netanyahu quickly defused the first dilemma by endorsing a Palestinian state with two conditions, demilitarization and mutual recognition of Israel, in a speech at Bar Ilan University.

The Obama administration warmly accepted Netanyahu's proposal, Oren said, moving the two sides to the stickier issue of settlements. In negotiations with special envoy George Mitchell, progress was made on a plan of Israel exercising restraint in settlement building, with the assurance that Jews in eastern Jerusalem could live wherever they want to, just like Jews in Philadelphia can, Oren said, invoking the site of his speech.

With the settlement dilemma resolved, that left what Oren called the "immense existential issue" of Iran. American policy shifted dramatically after June elections in Iran that were widely considered to be rigged, Oren said, as the terror-sponsoring, Holocaust-denying, potentially genocidal regime of Iran was now also illegitimate.

Suddenly, America halted its active outreach to Iran, Oren said. That was one of three assurances Netanyahu received from Obama when he visited Washington in May, Oren said, with the other two being the imposition of "crippling sanctions" if Iran didn't halt its nuclear program and that "no options are off the table." So, ultimately, the friction between Netanyahu and Obama didn't materialize, Oren said.

Before Oren could even start analyzing the Goldstone report, his mere mention of Goldstone earned groans from the audience.

"I love to hear that sigh," Oren said. "Wonderful."

The U.S. understands that the Goldstone report sets a poor precedent in international relations, realizing the damaging impact a similar report on American war efforts in Iraq or Afghanistan would have, and poses a threat to the peace process in the Middle East since Israel must be assured that "if that peace breaks down, we have our right to defend ourselves." In every area that Israel asked the U.S. to condemn the Goldstone report, "they came out and understood," Oren said.

In his introductory remarks, Lauder recalled that he was working for Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign when he first heard about JNF. Regarding the organization's famous fundraising method of offering Jews the chance to plant trees in Israel in memory of loved ones, Lauder said, "At the time, the whole idea of Israel and trees was fodder for my mind. I was interested in electoral votes."

But Lauder found his Jewish identity upon serving as head of the Jewish community in Austria during his time as U.S. ambassador there, he said, and realized the importance of JNF's work. When Lauder began working at JNF, one of his first moves was to raise the donation amount for trees from $10 to $18, since JNF was losing money on the trees due to overhead expenses.

"I said: Look, is Uncle Harry worth $10 or $18?" Lauder said.

Now, JNF is actually sending money to Israel rather than losing money, Lauder said, and "the fact is that we are making a major, major difference in Israel."

Rabbi Adam Feldman, leader of The Jewish Center in Princeton, attended the JNF National Conference for the first time. He said that JNF helps the synagogue's religious school educate children about real-life stories in Israel, such as dealing with everyday threats of terrorism and environmental issues like the water shortage in the Negev.

"It's not the Israel that people see on the news and in the paper, but it's a real-life, personal connection to Israel" that JNF creates, Feldman said.

Feldman said he takes trips to Israel every two years, and that he needs to make time to help people connect with JNF projects there.

"It's one thing to see it here, but it's another thing to go see it in Israel, to meet the people, to see the work, and inspire people more," he said.