Ayalon was in Utah from Washington, D.C., to attend a benefit dinner at the Wells Fargo Center to launch the Utah chapter of the American-Israel Friendship League.
During his speech, the ambassador blamed Iran for fostering and exporting terrorism and warned that Iran could "support terror more aggressively with the bomb."
"A nuclear Iran will be devastating," he said.
Ayalon also called for Palestinians to cease attacks on Israel's southern borders, accept Israel as a Jewish state, and accept past agreements between the two governments.
"There is nothing more that we want than peace," Ayalon told the audience of several hundred. "But peace that is real and peace that is genuine."
But Ayalon wasn't all politics. He said he was enjoying his first trip to Utah, "Not only because you're rabid skiers but because you are the Zionist state."
Ayalon pointed out similarities between Utah and Israel, like the Jordan River, Mount Nebo and Moab, Utah. Diners laughed when he remarked about passing a Shilo Inn downtown.
The America-Israel Friendship League, or AIFL, was founded in 1971 and is a nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization. Its goals are to strengthen ties with the U.S. by facilitating educational and professional exchange programs.
"We have the same beliefs, the same heritage, the same norms, the same values," Ayalon said.
CNN's Larry King, who had been scheduled to receive the first Global Understanding Award at the dinner, bowed out at the last minute because of network obligations in New York, said David Politis, an AIFL board of trustees member. Instead, a taped message from King was played.
Utah State Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who first went to Israel in 1979 and several times thereafter, is the chairman of the board for the Utah Chapter of the AIFL.
"Israel is a beacon of democracy surrounded by enemies," he said. ". . . But it continues to be that beacon on the hill with its shining light."
The America-Israel Friendship League Utah Chapter is the third of its kind in the country. Chapters already exist in San Francisco and in Tucson, Ariz.
jbergreen@sltrib.com
