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David Harris Blog featured in
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Dear John,
Pundits who portray Israel as an "isolated" nation are
missing (or ignoring) the reality of the remarkable surge in the
Jewish state's worldwide diplomatic engagement, writes AJC CEO
David Harris in his latest oped in The Times of Israel.
As the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, engaging nearly
120 countries annually, AJC has an active interest in Israel's
normalization in the international community.
Best regards,
Kenneth Bandler
AJC Director of Media Relations
An Israeli Success Story
The Times of Israel
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By David Harris
September 7, 2020
In the past decade, a number of pundits talked about Israel's
growing isolation under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - in
the words of New York Times' columnist Tom Friedman, "the
most diplomatically inept...government in Israel's
history."
I disagreed at the time. I disagree today. To the contrary, I have
repeatedly said that Israel's diplomatic position globally has
been on the upswing. That's been proven dramatically in recent
weeks, judging from the news about the UAE, Serbia, Kosovo, and
Malawi, but the trend began years ago.
I say this not as a card-carrying member of the Likud Party or a
spokesperson for the prime minister, but as a lifelong friend of
Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship, who's been fortunate to
witness many events first-hand and measure trends longitudinally.
In 1990, as geopolitics was being upended by the collapse of the
Soviet bloc, American Jewish Committee (AJC) began a new global
advocacy campaign to encourage support for Israel's rightful
place in the community of nations.
Over time, AJC expanded its efforts to engage nearly 120 countries,
including as many as 75-80 alone during the ten-day period of the UN
General Assembly (UNGA) opening each fall.
Those countries included some which had no diplomatic ties to Israel,
some which consistently opposed Israel in UN votes, and some whose
links to Israel could be generously described as lukewarm at best.
As far back as 2016, when asked by an Israeli official to draw
conclusions from AJC's whirlwind meetings in New York during
UNGA, I said: "Counterintuitive as it may sound to some ears, I
cannot recall seeing Israel in a stronger position bilaterally than it
is today."
Obviously, each country is a story unto itself. But there are certain
factors that apply pretty much across the board.
First, Israel is the quintessential 21st century country. It's
home to a vast knowledge industry and entrepreneurial spirit. That
creates technologies and services needed around the world.
When an arid country, Israel, is predicted to run out of water as its
population swells and instead becomes a water exporter, it has
something to offer countries fearful of life-threatening shortages.
As one Latin American foreign minister said to us, "Israel has
no rain and yet it has flourishing agriculture. We have plenty of rain
and a chronic water shortage. How can we learn from Israel?"
In the same spirit, we met with a European prime minister, whose
country rarely voted with Israel. Exhausted by an all-night cabinet
meeting to discuss budget cuts that could trigger street protests, he
showed little interest in seeing our AJC delegation, until the subject
of Israel's economic stewardship came up. He asked if we, as
American Jews, could introduce him to Israeli experts, and kept us for
90 minutes, far longer than any of us might have expected.
The same eagerness goes for medical breakthroughs, cyber security,
defense, counter-terrorism, airport security, national resilience
models, emergency responses, natural gas, investments, and, perhaps
most intriguingly of all, the creation of innovation-based ecosystems.
Second, once hostile countries are compartmentalizing their foreign
policies more than in the past.
They may still not necessarily like Israel or its politics a whole
lot, but they understand they're cutting off their noses to
spite their faces if they define the sum total of their approach
towards Israel through policy differences.
Third, whether they verbalize it publicly or not, many now understand
they can't continue to give the Palestinians a veto on their
attitudes towards Israel.
This is most evident in the Arab world, but not only.
The Palestinians have been given one chance after another to make
peace with Israel, based on a two-state model, starting in 1947. They
haven't.
Seventy-three years have passed, hence a desire to move on with
Israel, even as rhetorical support for the Palestinians might be
unchanged.
Fourth, the Arab economic embargo, once a powerful factor, is dead.
Countries that used to believe doing business with Israel meant no
Arab markets know this is no longer the case. Indeed, many Arab
countries, openly or just below the surface, are doing booming
business with Israel, so why should others, in Asia for example, deal
themselves out of the equation?
Fifth, the fear of primary, secondary, and even tertiary boycotts was
especially felt among energy importers, who relied heavily on Arab
exporters. The global energy glut, reflected both in supply and
pricing, has totally changed the calculus. No country needs to fear a
supply disruption today because of commerce with Israel.
And sixth, Israel is seen by many as a global powerhouse, with
especially strong ties to the United States, as well as India,
Germany, United Kingdom, Central and East Europe, Central Asia, Japan,
Brazil, Egypt, and many other nations, not to mention world Jewry.
As a consequence, in the minds of some, having strong bilateral ties
with Israel could potentially yield added benefits elsewhere. In my
experience, this factor reveals itself, whether directly or subtly,
rather often.
The bottom line is that today Israel has relations with all but a
handful of countries, and the number continues to climb. In any given
week, at least pre-coronavirus, Israeli hotels were filled with
official visitors from many nations.
And my informal barometer of Israel's global standing -
the arrivals and departure boards at Ben-Gurion Airport -
reveals dramatic changes from a time not so long ago when the bulk of
flights were to North America and Western Europe. No longer.
So why the claims of Israel's isolation? Presumably because the
laggard in Israel's diplomatic advances has been lopsided UN
votes and discriminatory structures. By and large, that hasn't
improved nearly as rapidly as the bilateral sphere has. True and
troubling.
But, it will be the last place to reflect the new environment because
many countries see little upside to changing their multilateral
postures.
If they want to get on committees, elect their representatives to
leadership posts, or gain support for key national priorities, they
need the majority of member states on their side. And at the UN, that
majority continues to reflexively position itself against Israel, even
as, outside the public glare, many seek closer ties with Jerusalem.
There remains much to be done in the bilateral realm, not to mention
the multilateral arena, but the positive changes have been remarkable.
They reveal an Israel increasingly engaged with every corner of the
world, and every corner of the world increasingly engaged with Israel.
David Harris is CEO of American Jewish Committee (AJC). Please join
67,200 others and follow him on Twitter @DavidHarrisAJC.
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