VOLUME 12 ISSUE 2 | SPRING 2018

inFOCUSQUARTERLY : REFUGE AND RENAISSANCE

Lela Gilbert on Jews and Christians in the Holy Land | Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod and Megan E. Turner on JNF’s Projects to Develop Green Spaces | Uri Naaman on Israeli-NATO Relations | David Koren on Governing | Yoram Ettinger on the Jewish State’s Demography | David M. Weinberg on Israel’s Winning Dipomacy | Albert H. Teich on U.S.-Israeli Technological and Research Cooperation | Pnina Agenyahu on Making from | Eric Rozenman on How an Israeli Institute Trains Future Leaders | Sean Durns on the Media’s Israel Narrative | Gadi Shamni on Diversity in the IDF | Shoshana Bryen reviews Jerusalem: The Biography.

Featuring an Interview with Ambassador Danny Ayalon LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

The First Jewish Commonwealth was Tzivia MacLeod highlight Israel’s eco- destroyed in 586 BCE; the Third estab- logical prowess – building a river in a inFOCUS lished in 1948 CE – making Israeli self- desert. Al Teich writes about U.S.-Israel VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 2 government both very old and very young. cooperation in scientific research, and Publisher By comparison, the French squeezed five Uri Na’aman about Israel’s cooperation Matthew Brooks Republics into just 225 years. with NATO. Yoram Ettinger is enthusi- Editor In modern times, the remnant that astic about Israel’s demographic future Shoshana Bryen never left was joined by Zionist pioneers. and Gadi Shamni is enthusiastic about Associate Editors They welcomed home the devastated sur- the skills young bring to the IDF. Michael Johnson Eric Rozenman vivors of Nazi rule and Pnina Agenyahu discusses Copy Editors then 700,000-plus im- the integration of the Ethi- Shari Hillman poverished brothers and opian community, while Karen McCormick sisters expelled from the David Koren explores the Published by: Arab/Islamic world. Then sensitive governance of Je- Jewish Policy Center Yemenite, Ethiopian, and rusalem as it relates to its 50 F Street NW, Suite 100 Russian Jews came as refu- Arab residents. David M. Washington, DC 20001. gees. Comprising 20 percent of the popula- Weinberg recounts Israel’s recent diplo- tion, , Muslims and Druze matic victories. (202) 638-2411 are part of the civic, religious, and cultural Shoshana Bryen reviews Simone Follow us on spectrum. Together, the people of Israel Sebag-Montefiore’s book, Jerusalem: JewishPolicyCenter @theJPC are building a high-tech, secure, demo- The Biography. The opinions expressed in inFOCUS do not cratic, wealthy and socially open country. If you appreciate what you’ve read, I necessarily reflect those of the Jewish Policy At 70, Israel is truly a country of encourage you to make a contribution to Center, its board, or its officers. “Refuge and Renaissance.” the Jewish Policy Center. As always, you To begin or renew your subscription, please In this issue, we are pleased, first can use our secure site: http://www.jewish contact us: [email protected] and foremost, to bring you the thoughts policycenter.org/donate. © 2018 Jewish Policy Center and energy of Israel’s former Ambassa- dor to the , Danny Ayalon. Sincerely, WRITERS’ GUIDELINES Lela Gilbert recounts her experienc- Essays must be 1,600 to 2,000 words es in Israel as an outsider – and an insider. in length. Email submissions to info@ Sean Durns takes on the unrelenting and jewishpolicycenter.org. undeserved hostility of the international Matthew Brooks, www.JewishPolicyCenter.org media. Megan E. Turner and Jennifer Publisher

LELA GILBERT is editor of Newsmax’s Faith and Freedom col- Ambassador DANNY AYALON is an Israeli diplomat, columnist umn and the award-winning author of Saturday People, Sunday and politician. He served as Ambassador to the U.S., Deputy People: Israel through the Eyes of a Christian Sojourner. (3) Foreign Minister, and a member of Israel’s .(22) JENNIFER TZIVIA MACLEOD is a freelance writer for Jewish ALBERT H. TEICH, Ph.D., is a Research Professor of Science, Featuring National Fund. MEGAN E. TURNER is a clinical social worker Technology and International Affairs at George Washington who regularly writes for JNF projects in Be’er Sheva and the University.(27) wider Negev. (6) PNINA AGENYAHU is Director of Interfaces and Synergy at the Colonel URI NAAMAN, IDF (Ret.) served as Coordinator for Strategic, Planning and Content Unit of The Jewish Agency for NATO & European Defense Organizations at the Israeli Ministry Israel. (30) of Defense.(10) ERIC ROZENMAN is a communications consultant for the DAVID KOREN, Ph.D, is an advisor to the Mayor of Jerusalem for Jewish Policy Center. (33) Arab and Eastern Jerusalem affairs.(12) SEAN DURNS is a Senior Research Analyst for the Committee for Ambassador YORAM ETTINGER (Ret.) is a member of the Accuracy in Reporting in America (CAMERA). (35) American-Israel Demographic Research Group (AIDRG) and a consultant to members of Israel’s Cabinet and Knesset. (17) Maj. Gen. GADI SHAMNI, IDF (Ret.) former Commander of Israel’s and Defense Attaché in Washington. (38) DAVID M. WEINBERG is Vice President of the Jerusalem Insti- tute for Strategic Studies. (20) SHOSHANA BRYEN is the Editor of inFOCUS and the Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Center. (41) My Sojourn Among the Saturday People by LELA GILBERT

n January 2006, I was standing on a ❚❚Arriving in Jerusalem everything I could lay my hands on beach at a Sinai resort called Nuwei- That initial journey was primarily about Jewish and Israeli history, Zion- ba. It was a gorgeous sun-drenched one of curiosity. I’d heard about Israel ism, Christian-Jewish relations, and I day, crisp and cool. I watched as a from my father, who loved the stories current events. white camel and his rider splashed of the Jews’ regathering in their ancient I quickly discovered, however, that I through the surf, with the mountains homeland and their ensuing against-all- had a whole lot more to learn. of Saudi Arabia forming a backdrop odds military victories. In his view, those behind them. We were only about 40 were stories were all about miracles. ❚❚The Lies Around Me miles from the Egyptian-Israeli bor- Like me, my father was a Christian Clearly, there were continuous lies der — it was visible on the horizon believer, but his interest in Israel was not being told about Israel on a regular basis just ahead. altogether religious. I think, most of all, in the international media. Perhaps the As I stood there, a kind of excite- it was the unlikely success story of Israel’s most startling of all was Palestine Lib- ment stirred in me, something that I can founding, the glory of the Israel Defense eration Organization (PLO) Chairman only describe as a personal epiphany. I Forces (IDF), and the “desert blossoming Yasser Arafat’s declaration to President knew in an instant that I was going to like a rose” that intrigued him most. Bill Clinton that there had never been a Israel; that somehow I needed get myself By 2006, my own interests about Is- Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount. there. And the sooner the better. rael had to do with history and archeol- Fortunately, living in a geographi- And so it was, just half a year later, ogy, including the locales surrounding cally small country like Israel, it’s rela- that I flew from Los Angeles to Israel’s various Biblical stories. I also sought tively easy to find experts who actually for the first time in to better understand Jewish beliefs and know what they are talking about. A few my life. I managed to arrive in the midst religious traditions; to see how modern phone calls led me to famed archeolo- of the Second Lebanon War, with more Israel manages to flourish in the shadow gist Gabriel Barkay, who has spent many than 4000 Hezbollah rockets raining of such hateful neighbors. years sifting through tons and more tons down on northern Israeli cities – more Most of all I wanted to become ac- of dumped soil from the Temple Mount, than 100 a day – while air and ground quainted with Israeli people – to live removed illegally during an expansion battles raged inside Lebanon. among them and not just catch a glimpse of the al-Aqsa Mosque. Night and day, tens of thousands of of them through a blurry tour bus window. I met with Barkay for several hours Israelis were rushing in and out of bomb I didn’t know a soul in Israel when at his home in a conversation which led shelters. Thousands more had fled the I arrived, but it didn’t take long to meet to another article for . North altogether and were sleeping on some remarkable new friends. At the That was later expanded into a chapter of relatives’ couches, or glued to TV sets same time, unusual opportunities mate- my book Saturday People, Sunday Peo- in hotels, or camped out in a sprawling rialized, and I even found myself writ- ple: Israel through the Eyes of a Christian tent village along the coast. ing my first impressions of Israel for The Sojourner. My family and friends quietly Jerusalem Post. Another false statement – one I’d agreed that I was insane for going to Is- And as it turned out, that opened barely heard about when I arrived in Isra- rael at such a time. But war or no war, I up one door after another for interviews el – was immortalized by Jimmy Carter’s had no intention of changing my plans. with experts, moving conversations book title Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. I intended to stay in Jerusalem for four with wounded warriors, and discoveries One of my new friends in Israel was a months. I had rented a little Jerusalem about what truths lay behind an array of South African Christian pastor, Malcolm apartment online, and once the war was ridiculous news media fictions. Hedding, who was by then the Executive over, I hoped to settle down and absorb Before boarding the plane, I had Director of the International Christian my new surroundings. devoured numerous books. I read Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ).

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 3 It didn’t take long to discover that quickly informed me that he remains a arrive at the border. No matter who they Hedding himself – a white man – had been devout atheist after losing his faith, along are, or how they sustained their injuries, forced to flee because of his with more than 40 family members, in they are treated and then discreetly re- fiery anti-apartheid sermons, preached at the Holocaust. He and innumerable other turned to their homeland. his racially integrated church. He was out- “settlers” live in those disputed territories Similarly, Israeli field hospitals, raged with apartheid accusations against for one simple reason: they’ve been able to which even the admits Israel. He knew better – he himself had afford homes there. are the best in the world, are urgently found refuge in the Jewish State. Of course, all these new insights flown to sites of earthquakes, hurricanes Meanwhile, a lunch date at Jerusa- didn’t all happen during the four months and other emergencies. They are set up lem’s Mall made the same point. I’d initially intended to spend in Israel. and running within 24-hours, deliver- A friend and I were waiting to be seated I extended my visa, three months at a ing sophisticated, life-saving treatment. on a terrace, where tables overlooking time, again and again. By the end of my As holidays came and went, I was the were in great demand. All sojourn, I had lived in Israel for ten and a touched by the sight of pilgrims, who ar- at once the spot we had our eye on was half years. And happily, throughout that rived in colorful attire from every corner snapped up by two chic young Arab time, my lessons weren’t entirely focused of the world to pray at the women. Their heads were covered in de- on controversies. or the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, to walk alongside the , and to explore ancient landmarks in what is to many, quite literally, the “Holy Land.” I was stunned by the beauty and variety of the tiny However, as months turned into country’s landscapes...unmatched in photogenic appeal. years, the most stunning discovery I made about Israel occurred seemingly by chance. During an international con- ference, I happened upon a workshop signer scarves and their well-fitted jeans ❚❚The Appeal of Israel about “The Forgotten Refugees.” A film and sunglasses were upscale. They sat at For one thing, I was stunned by the of that title was being introduced, focus- table next to an “ultra-Orthodox” Jew- beauty and variety of the tiny country’s ing on the expulsion of some 850,000 ish family in their own distinctive at- landscapes and vistas. From deserts to Jews from Muslim lands between the tire. And next to them was a table full of farmlands to golden, sunlit cities; from mid-1940s until around 1970. middle-aged American tourists in cargo tidy farms to rugged cliffs to bird sanc- shorts, souvenir T-shirts, and a clutter of tuaries and waterfalls, from the Mediter- ❚❚Jews from Muslim Lands cameras, GPS gadgets and fanny-packs. ranean to the to snow-capped I sat transfixed as I heard women and No, Israel is not an apartheid state. Mt. Hermon, it is a land unmatched in men relate story after story – some spoke Another discovery – BBC, CNN, Al- its photogenic appeal. tearfully, some with deep anger – about Jazeera and other dishonest news sources And I was impressed (and a bit in- their parents and grandparents, brother to the contrary – was that Israelis, not timidated) by the intellectual quality of and sisters and more, who had fled for Gazans, were the long-suffering victims even the most casual conversations with their lives, often with only the shirts on of endless rocket launches into civilian friends. And this extended well beyond their backs and perhaps a single suitcase. neighborhoods. Thousands of Israelis my circle: I heard about the devoted per- From Iraq and , from Syria of all ages living in the “Gaza envelope” sistence of Israeli medical researchers, and Morocco and Libya, Tunisia and be- were unable to sleep through the night for the genius of hi-tech innovators, and the yond, nearly a million Jews were driven weeks at a time due to “Red Alert” air raid richness of Israel’s world-class music, out of ancestral homelands where they alarms; every adult I spoke to was taking theater and film production. Israel abso- had lived in for centuries, some even for anxiety medications. Most of their chil- lutely throbs with intelligence, imagina- millennia. Their businesses and lands dren were bed-wetters. tion and curiosity. were confiscated. Their synagogues and It was also eye-opening to become Later in my stay, after the so-called educational institutions were shuttered acquainted with people who lived “be- Arab Spring began in 2010, and the sub- or torn down. Their friends and loved yond the Green Line” in Judea and Sa- sequent launch of the horrific Syrian ones disappeared without a trace, never maria, better known as the . war, I was surprised to find out about the to be found. No, they weren’t religious Zionist fanat- emergency medical treatment that Israel More than 600,000 made their way ics. In fact, the patriarch of the first fami- has provided for years, offering expert to Israel. ly I met there was a world-weary soul who medical care to wounded Syrians who It was not a happy ending for a while.

4 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 LELA GILBERT: My Sojourn Among the Saturday People In those days Israel was a poor coun- try, and the new arrivals were hurriedly settled in primitive tent cities, with poor sanitation and little food. They were safe, but it was a devastating transition. Many spoke only ; few spoke Hebrew apart from their formal prayers. Of course, I’d heard a great deal about the deprivation of Palestinian refugees, who had fled Israel during the 1948 War of Independence. But now it was abundantly clear that there may have been more Jewish refugees than Arabs. Why wasn’t this a well-known story? Still, those Jewish immigrants did not present themselves to the world as victims or refugees. Instead, they and their children found a way – through sheer determination and exhausting ef- fort – to start over. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy. But today more than 50 per- A man in the Judean Desert. cent of Israel’s population is comprised their home, a Coptic Christian neigh- We actually have a lot in common. of those Jews who found their way across bor brought food to them. As she offered As for me, more than a decade af- North Africa and the Middle East to her tearful goodbyes, she also said, “We ter the decision I made on that Nuweiba their new homeland. know very well that after you Jews are beach, I’m grateful beyond measure for For me, this discovery was a turning gone, they’ll come after us next.” all I’ve learned from my Israeli friends: point. I started seeking out people who Before long, the reality was all too lessons of life and death, fear and cour- had made that terrible journey. I listened evident. In 2014, I flew to Iraq and vis- age, truth and lies, faith and scripture, to their stories, visited their homes and ited the thousands of Christian refugees as well as the deeper wisdom offered by sampled their exotic foods. in Erbil. I saw before my eyes the same centuries of Jewish writers, historians, And I started writing about them. kind of heartbreaking losses I’d been translators and commentators. hearing about from Israelis who had fled I believe a common hope for both ❚❚First Saturday, Then Sunday Muslim lands. Christians and Jews is crystallized in a Meanwhile, a friend told me about By the time I left Israel perma- few words from the Book of Lamenta- some cryptic graffiti that had been nently in early 2017, the Islamic State’s tions. Their message is recalled year af- painted on a wall in Bethlehem. It said murder of thousands of Christians in ter year at Tisha b’Av – the day of fasting in Arabic, “First comes Saturday, then Iraq and Syria was officially designated that memorializes the destruction of the comes Sunday.” genocide. At the same time, Islamist ancient Jewish Temples. In our increas- I couldn’t grasp the meaning, attacks on Egyptian churches had also ingly turbulent world, where dangers even after it was explained to me that increased exponentially. abound for us all, may they remain an Christians were at risk of violence, too. It should not go unnoticed that less affirmation of hope and faith. Months later, I saw a far clearer and than a dozen elderly Jews remain in each It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are more ominous version of that same sen- of those countries: Iraq, Syria or Egypt. not consumed, because His compassions timent. It was embossed on a Palestinian And they aren’t the only places in which fail not. They are new every morning: flag which had been confiscated during the Saturday people have moved away, Great is Thy faithfulness. the . and the Sunday people are now at risk. In Arabic it announced, “On Satur- Historically, the Jews endured cen- LELA GILBERT is editor of Newsmax’s day we kill the Jews; on Sunday we kill turies of abuse and violence at the hand weekly Faith and Freedom column, an the Christians.” of hostile, ignorant Christians. Today, adjunct fellow at Hudson Institute, and In fact, one of the Egyptian Jewish fortunately, an increasing number of the award-winning author of Saturday women I interviewed told me that when Jews have found their way into genuine People, Sunday People: Israel through she and her family were about to flee friendships with some of us. the Eyes of a Christian Sojourner.

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 5 The Jewish National Fund You Should Know Today by MEGAN E. TURNER and JENNIFER TZIVIA MACLEOD

ewish National Fund (JNF-USA) is were seen as sources for urban and in- ecosystem could be rehabilitated and probably best known for trees – af- dustrial needs, not as natural resources brought back to a healthy state, it would ter all, JNF has planted 260 million and ecosystems in need of protection have a positive effect on the residents Jtrees throughout Israel over the last and preservation, and became conduits and city of Be’er Sheva and potentially 116 years. However, many people remain for municipal sewage and repositories see the return of local wildlife. unfamiliar with JNF’s long history of ac- for garbage and refuse. “When we started this project, I complishments in developing the land of “As a child, I remember the river understood that cleaning up the river Israel and its vision to build and revital- was full of trash and basically a giant was something for the benefit of the ize the Negev and Galilee. While JNF’s dump,” recalled Be’er Sheva native Anat public,” said Shachaf. But he dreamt big- work continues to evolve and adapt as Haliva-Nachshon, 40. “During the win- ger—Shachaf also wanted to build a park new necessities arise throughout the ter, the water would rise, flooding and around the river, one that would not country, it remains undisputedly the cutting off the Neve Noi neighborhood only increase the value of the immediate largest environmental organization in from the rest of the city with disgust- surroundings, but also attract tourists Israel, and its environmental work acts ing, smelly water. The Be’er Sheva River and new residents to the city. The dream as a catalyst in community building and was a place we weren’t proud of; no one was bold and it needed an equally bold even in facilitating and fostering coexis- wanted to invest in cleaning it up.” partner to bring it to fruition. tence among neighbors. Dvora Zak, 35, also grew up in Be’er Jewish National Fund was a natu- One of JNF’s greatest achievements Sheva and was warned to stay away from ral fit to realize this dream, and already in community building through environ- the river. “The river was in such bad shape had a history of successfully rehabili- mental work can be seen in the city of Be’er that it was infested with flies. There was tating other rivers and waterways in Sheva, the capital of the Negev Desert. no water flowing through it, only sewage, Israel—such as the Alexander River in The Be’er Sheva River Park and the and we were told to not go near it because Israel’s Hefer Valley. What caught JNF’s popular River Walk surrounding it have it was a real health hazard.” attention was Shachaf’s ambitious plan become an integral part of this sprawl- ing desert city. Residents and visitors alike flock to the Danielle A. and Irving Endless stretches of dusty desert that once J. Grossman Jewish National Fund Am- surrounded the river have been replaced with phitheater for big-name concerts and events. Families gather on weekends to vibrant greenery... picnic at Bell Park or barbecue on the banks of the river. And then there’s the excitement over what will be Israel’s For many, the Negev’s neglected wa- to revitalize and breathe new life into largest man-made, recycled water lake terways were not a primary concern, but Be’er Sheva through nature: restor- within the park, and the beautiful resi- one person thought differently. In 1997, ing and having clean, recycled water dential area that will sit on its banks. Dr. Nehemya Shachaf was appointed flow through the Be’er Sheva River and A few decades ago, one would have head of the Shikma-Besor Drainage building a large lake surrounded by a been hard-pressed to find any semblance Authority, the body responsible for the massive green park. The partnership be- of greenery, not just in Be’er Sheva, but cleaning up and rehabilitation of over 60 came an essential element in Jewish Na- in many industrialized Israeli cities. million dunams of waterways in the Ne- tional Fund’s Blueprint Negev initiative, With the fledgling state’s focus on rapid gev. Shachaf’s attention quickly turned which focuses on developing southern development in the 1950s and 1960s, toward the Be’er Sheva River, believing if Israel to attract 500,000 new residents waterways and rivers throughout Israel the polluted waterway and its weakened to the area.

6 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 A gardener with JNF prepares to plant foliage in Israel. (Photo: Jewish National Fund)

With JNF’s matching grants and been replaced with vibrant greenery, Israelis and their families, living up to its collaboration, as well as support from and there’s daily progress being made on name as the crown jewel of JNF’s Blue- regional and government partners, the Be’er Sheva River Park Lake. Known print Negev initiative. Once completed, Shachaf’s dream began taking shape. In as Neve Midbar, or “desert oasis” in He- plans are in place to build eco-friendly the early 2000s, the first section of the brew, the 23-acre lake will be Israel’s residential high-rises, a bike and walk- larger Be’er Sheva River Park—contain- largest man-made lake. More impor- ing path around the lake, restaurants, ing a promenade along the southern tantly, the lake will double as a reservoir shops, galleries, and more. The lake has bank of the river and the lush green Bell to irrigate and care for the park’s needs. also interested bird-watchers with the Park—opened to the public. A 12,500 Water for the reservoir will be supplied prospects of attracting oasis birds, such seat amphitheater (that can accom- by treated and recycled sewage and as Arabian babblers, desert larks, and modate a staggering 30,000 spectators waste water from the city so as to not scrub warblers. Although it is not cer- including the surrounding park) was waste precious and scarce fresh water. tain that the lake will directly increase built, and headlining acts from around the world began performing in Be’er Sheva. The beautiful Pipes Bridge—a pe- Water for the reservoir will be supplied by treated destrian walkway connecting the Neve Noi neighborhood to the Old City—was and recycled sewage and waste water from the city built to help facilitate foot traffic, while so as to not waste precious and scarce fresh water. historic sites like Beit Eshel, the Turk- ish Bridge, and Abraham’s Well, were all renovated to attract more tourists and reopened to the public. The lake’s construction will con- Be’er Sheva’s wildlife, JNF’s success in Endless stretches of dusty desert tinue to transform Be’er Sheva into an restoring the Hula Lake in northern Is- that once surrounded the river have even more attractive city for younger rael, which has attracted the return of

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 7 migratory cranes and has been become Accords, the Institute’s motto is “Nature many Israelis working towards peace a major tourist destination, has residents knows no borders,” and it proudly strives and has also gained a better understand- optimistic about the lake’s potential pos- to hew to this policy in its programming ing of his own country. “I’m part of this itive ecological impact. and projects. The Institute welcomes stu- conflict. We, in , are part of it. En- “The Be’er Sheva River Park is one dents from around the world, including vironmental and ecological issues per- of the main anchors of the city of Be’er Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, sist despite a border here or there.” Sheva, and it serves as a green lung in Europe, and North and , to Dr. Clive Lipchin, an expert on wa- the heart of the Negev,” said Mayor Ru- learn about shared resources and protec- ter resource management at the Insti- vik Danilovich, Be’er Sheva’s young and tion from desertification, as well as envi- tute, credits the Jewish National Fund dynamic mayor, who has been a big pro- ronmental and cross-border cooperation. and its support for the successes in ponent of the environmental initiatives Amgad Hijazin, a Jordanian student, cross-border relationship building and brought forth by JNF and the Drainage came to the Institute in 2014 to study education with students from neigh- boring states, as well as an increase in mutual cooperation. He claims that this JNF’s success in restoring the Hula Lake in assistance helps the Institute engage Pal- Northern Israel ... has attracted the return of estinians, Jordanians, and Israelis while promoting mutual cooperation through migratory cranes and has become a major tourist improving or protecting something that destination... affects all of them—the environment. “JNF is an essential partner in helping us achieve that mission.” Authority from the start. “I am delight- more about cross-border environmental While the Arava Institute pursues ed to see what was once a hazardous en- cooperation between neighboring states, many environmental rehabilitation vironmental site become a center for rec- particularly on environmental matters projects, one focus now is tracking and reation, leisure, culture, and tourism. I shared by Jordan and Israel. Before com- mitigating damages following a mas- have no doubt that with Jewish National ing to the Arava, Hijazin worked at the sive oil spill in the Arava’s Evrona Na- Fund’s help, the park will continue to be Jordanian National Research Center, an ture Reserve in 2014. Viewed by many as developed and so will Be’er Sheva.” environmental research organization Israel’s greatest ecological disaster, ap- Farther south, another Jewish Na- based in Amman, and like many stu- proximately 20,000 barrels of crude oil tional Fund-supported initiative is cre- dents he had reservations about coming gushed from a breach in the Trans-Israel ating change by setting politics aside to the Jewish State for his studies. pipeline, contaminating the soil, threat- and bringing people together to collabo- To help ease this transition, all ening plants and wildlife, and affecting rate on shared environmental issues. new students attend the Peace-Building the health of and hospitalizing over 80 Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordani- Leadership Seminar. This mandatory people in Israel and Jordan. ans gather in Israel’s Negev Desert to seminar is designed to help create mutu- Three years later, cleanup efforts talk about the one thing they all have in al understanding, empathy, and friend- continue and researchers are studying common: the planet. It may sound like a ship among students from varying back- the long-term consequences of the spill joke—only without the rabbi, priest, and imam—but this in fact does happen in the most unlikely of places—the Arava Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians gather in desert, a stretch of land straddling the Is- raeli-Jordanian border from the port city Israel’s Negev Desert to talk about the one thing of Eilat in the south to the Dead Sea to the they all have in common: the planet. north. It is there that the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, a Jewish Na- tional Fund-supported research institute, is transcending national and political dif- grounds. “In the beginning, students on the Arava’s fragile ecological system ferences for the greater good, conducting came together to talk about the con- and local species, such as the doum palm research on the importance of plants and flict,” Hijazin said. “We were discussing and acacia trees. “Animals can outrun animals, and learning to manage the re- difficult topics, and even though it was the effects of a spill,” Dr. Lipchin said, gion’s precious water resources. hard at times, that’s when you become “however, there’s a greater concern for Founded in 1996, following the Oslo friends.” Today, Hijazin says he has met vegetation, especially the acacia.”

8 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 The Jewish National Fund You TURNER and JENNIFER TZIVIA MACLEOD: MEGAN E. Should Know Today

Children in Be’er Sheva’s riverfront park. (Photo: JNF)

As part of his research and studies, desertification, but they also enrich it. have launched the Track II Environmental Hijazin—who decided to stay in Israel They are a type of legume, similar to Forum in order to bring decision makers to pursue a master’s degree from Ben beans or clovers, adding nitrogen to the from the area together,” said David Lehrer, Gurion University—has been involved soil, which in turn helps other species executive director of the Arava Institute. in the oil spill cleanup. He also shared grow and thrive. When residents began “The forum will help advance cross-border Dr. Lipchin’s concern that the spill’s noticing the trees were vanishing, the environmental agreements between Israel, main effect has been on the second gen- Central Arava Regional Council, along the PA, and Jordan—we all share the same eration of plant life. Based on tracking with JNF, stepped in and created the ecosystem and its health is important, es- and measurements over the last three Adopt-an-Acacia program. pecially with such events.” years, he believes older acacia trees can The Council and JNF began the Protecting the environment and act- be saved through soil remediation and project by asking local residents to col- ing as guardian of the land are part of other measures, but he’s also seeing few- lect seeds from trees already growing on JNF’s DNA. Be’er Sheva’s revitalization er young trees in the area now than there and around their properties. The seeds and the promotion of environmental col- should be. The spill didn’t cross into Jor- were germinated and raised in a nursery, laboration among neighbors are just two dan, but Hijazin has noticed a decrease then returned to the areas where they examples of the dozens of projects and in new acacias on the Jordanian side as had been collected. As part of his re- programs Jewish National Fund spear- well. “In Jordan, the acacia is one of the search into the acacia’s decline, Hijazin heads to ensure a bright, prosperous, and main food sources for desert animals has been collecting seeds and experi- secure future for all who call Israel home. and it is also important for people, as it menting with four types of germination provides shade and charcoal,” he said. treatments to find the one best suited JENNIFER TZIVIA MACLEOD is Residents in the Central Arava for Jordan’s dry climate. He is hopeful a freelance writer for Jewish National have noted that the iconic tree has been of replicating the successes seen in the Fund. MEGAN E. TURNER is a clini- facing problems over the last decade. Arava in his country once he returns. cal social worker who regularly writes Acacias are classified as a “keystone” Although the spill continues to have for Jewish National Fund projects and species, meaning that they not only long-lasting effects, it has sparked an in- about the organization’s development anchor the soil and prevent further crease in cross-border cooperation. “We in Be’er Sheva and the wider Negev.

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 9 Israel and NATO: History and Progress by COLONEL URI NAAMAN (Ret.)

o enhance relationships with non- Soviet threat and toward Afghanistan with NATO, which was progressing member states, the North Atlantic came changes related to NATO’s region- slowly at the time. Treaty Organization initiated the al cooperation in the Middle East and its There was one successful coopera- TMediterranean Dialogue frame- perception of threats related to terrorism tion of note. NATO offered Israel the work as a forum of cooperation between and radical Islamism. opportunity to participate in a naval op- itself and seven non-NATO states from Israel stepped up and was willing to eration in the Mediterranean Sea with North Africa and the Near East, namely: provide support and assistance for the the objective of interdicting illicit arms, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Israel, organization and its individual mem- drugs, and terrorists. The operation, Mauritania, and last to join, Algeria. ber states that had sent troops to the re- titled Active Endeavour was run out of Further along, a similar forum was initi- gion and required assistance preparing Naples, . It proposed to assign a ded- ated with other European countries – the for counter-terrorism and warfare in a icated Israeli representative to the mis- Partnership for Peace (PfP) program. desert context. Several NATO member sion. Israel agreed, and since the begin- Meetings held within the Med-Dialogue states conducted exercises in Israel to ning of 2008 an Israeli presence has been framework with NATO were usually con- prepare for warfare in Afghanistan and on board this mission, since renamed ducted in an orderly and topical manner. to emulate the rocky desert terrain. Sea Guardian and transitioned to Brit- Israel immediately responded posi- During the 2004 NATO Summit ain. Both NATO and Israel benefitted tively to NATOs request to join the Med in Istanbul, the Alliance expanded the from this valuable relationship and en- Dialogue as part of the country’s prin- Middle Eastern and regional folder and joyed reciprocated morale-boosting and cipled and strategic approach to join launched the Istanbul Cooperation Ini- high-quality substantive contributions. regional cooperation frameworks, like tiative (ICI), a cooperative framework Participation in maritime operation those developed by the . focused on Persian Gulf state member- was Israel’s first engagement in a multi- Preliminary years of the Med Dia- ship. Six countries were invited to join, national operational team and has raised logue did not lead to significant progress but only four became active members: discussions about the inclusion of Israeli of the Israeli-NATO relationship, and Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Navy ships in this specific operation. members of the forum were provided with relatively minimal opportunities for cooperative activities such as cours- NATO offers Israel access to ... training es, trainings and collaborative exercises. opportunities, conferences, information exchange Israeli attempts to promote specific collaborative activities were minimally and added value in countering terrorism. reciprocated and were generally slow to materialize. For example, official agree- ments with NATO in the areas of disas- Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia and Oman In the 2010 NATO Summit in Por- ter management and logistical engage- remained on the fence. tugal, it was decided to change the co- ment were delayed for years at a time. Israel appreciated the opportunity operation mechanism with non-NATO for facilitated engagements, conferenc- member states to expand activities of- ❚❚NATO’s Mission Changes es and summits with Northern African fered. All non-NATO member states NATO actively entered the protract- and Gulf countries with which it did were transitioned to the One Tool Box ed war in Afghanistan and embraced the not have a standing formal relationship, approach. In principle, all external part- fight as its core organizational mission. and simultaneously worked to promote ners to NATO receive the same offer of With this pivot away from the obsolete and deepen the general relationship support and assistance with regard to a

10 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 a liaison function, meant to increase the presence and meetings of Israeli repre- sentatives with counterparts from other countries and functions of NATO. Once again, participation of ships as part of the Sea Guardian operation was discussed.

❚❚Benefits for Both The potential benefits gleaned from a thriving relationship for Israel and NATO are great for both. Israel’s com- parative advantage and high compe- tence in NATOs core activities related to counter-terrorism, cyber, intelligence, missile defense and so on are desirable. NATO offers Israel access to a global network and platform of cooperation with shared interests including relevant Joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the President of courses, training opportunities, confer- Israel Reuven Rivlin in June 2016. (Photo: NATO) ences, information exchange and added NATO work plan – which significantly NATO’s Secretary General at the value in countering terrorism. increases the activities offered to Israel time assured Israel of fairness as he Israel struggles with promoting its as well, particularly when compared to maintained a policy of non-discrimina- ties with multi-lateral organizations as it previous years when other members re- tion and worked to prevent agenda items has historically focused on developing bi- ceived greater support. that attempted to further isolate Israel lateral relationships on a more “intimate” Additional improvements were and prevent cooperation. basis. This strategic shift in the Israeli ap- implemented including, inter alia, the Israel’s limited activism within proach is not without growing pains and opening of an Israeli permanent office NATO continued from 2010-2016 due requires a lengthy and ongoing process. and presence in the NATO headquar- to ongoing tensions with Turkey. In Israel is now more open to the benefits ters, participation of Israeli navy ships in 2016, an agreement between Turkey it stands to gain from an enhanced rela- maritime operations, ratification of the and Israel was achieved and Turkey tionship with NATO, including improv- individual and bilateral IPCP agreement agreed to remove its veto on Israeli par- ing its global standing and legitimacy with NATO, and so forth. ticipation in NATO activities. This is and the ability to establish some form of the current situation. deterrence, based on its partnership and ❚❚Fallout from Mavi Marmara Despite Israel’s limited NATO ac- cooperation with the organization. Concretely and operationally, a ma- tivism over the course of those six years, As this article was being completed, jority of the new areas of cooperation Israel continued to provide partial as- Israel, after years of negotiations and were blocked later in 2010 due to the sistance and support, for example dur- delays, has signed an important agree- crisis in the Turkish-Israeli relationship ing emergencies or natural disasters – ment with NATO’s logistics agency, the in the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara earthquakes, firefighting response etc. NATO Support and Procurement Agen- flotilla incident, in which Turkish ves- NATOs situation room supported Israel cy (NSPA). Today, Israel is focused on sels attempting to run Israel’s maritime during the mega-fire in the Carmel For- promoting and finalizing various agree- blockade of the were stopped est in 2010 and coordinated emergency ments and accords with NATO that will and nine Turks, fighting Israel comman- responses from NATO member states lead to enhanced and fruitful future dos, were killed. and non-member states alike. cooperation with the organization well Usual and procedural decision-mak- With the withdrawal of Turkey’s into the future. ing in NATO is consensus-driven and veto in 2016, the individual cooperation Turkey invoked its right to veto within agreement (the IPCP) between Israel and Colonel URI NAAMAN (Ret.) NATO, practically preventing Israel from NATO was finalized, and the Israeli of- served as Coordinator for NATO making any progress within the organiza- fice at the NATO HQ was set up. This -of and European Defense Organiza- tion – operationally or otherwise. fice is not an embassy, but rather serves tions at Israel’s Ministry of Defense.

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 11 The End of an Era for Jerusalem’s Arab Residents by DAVID KOREN

he struggle for sovereignty in Je- and an increasing preference for an Is- Arab population of the newly united Je- rusalem has transitioned from the raeli rather than Palestinian matricula- rusalem in 1967 was about 70,000 (along- “Jerusalem of Above” – in the sense tion certificate; flying the flag of Palestine side 197,000 Jews), constituting 26.5% of Tof the political summits of Oslo and spray-painting nationalist slogans in the city’s population. and Annapolis – to the “Jerusalem of Be- praise of on the walls of buildings Residents of eastern Jerusalem have low,” in the sense of daily life in the city. while expressing vicious criticism of the the legal status of “permanent residents,” The real limits to control and sovereignty head of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which in practice is the same as that of are not determined in clandestine talks Mahmoud Abbas, on social networks. foreign nationals who reside in Israel. The between unnamed high-ranking officials, And, alongside the growing power of Arabs have the right to live and work in but rather by demarcating areas of activ- conservative Islamist forces in the public Israel (unlike Palestinians of Judea and ity for the municipal street cleaner, the domain, there is also greater sexual per- Samaria). They also have benefits under youth counselor at the local community missiveness in the private domain and the National Insurance Law and the Na- center, the building inspector, road engi- a growing laxness in the observance of tional Health Insurance Law. As perma- neer, policeman and social worker, who family values and tradition. nent residents, they are eligible to vote provide services for the residents and are In this sense, eastern Jerusalem Arabs in municipal but not national elections. clearly identified with Israeli institutions. are at an historical crossroads, no longer If they leave the country for more than Governance and sovereign rule in eastern able to straddle the fence between the PA seven years they risk losing this status. Jerusalem requires a quantum leap in the and Israel, bringing to a head a decision be- Research studies and public opin- level of services provided by Israel, along- tween the alternative senses of belonging. ion surveys reveal that safeguarding their side effective community policing efforts. The Arabs of eastern Jerusalem are Eastern Jerusalem Palestinian youth are torn caught in a vortex of emotions and mixed feelings of despair and hope, fatigue and between ... colleges providing Hebrew classes and vigor, envy and pride, dream and reality. advanced professional training, and Fatah sports The contrast between the strong national and cultural clubs... and religious symbolism that Jerusalem (or al-Quds, in Arabic) holds for its Arab resi- dents on the one hand, and their acceler- ❚❚Eastern Jerusalem: Context permanent resident status and remaining ated integration into Israeli society, both in “Eastern Jerusalem” is the term ap- eligible for national insurance benefits and the city and elsewhere, on the other has en- plied to the neighborhoods within the mu- healthcare, rank high among the reasons tangled them in a thicket of contradictions. nicipal jurisdiction of Jerusalem beyond for the Palestinians’ preference for living Among them: Palestinian national the 1949 armistice line (also known as the within the municipal boundaries of Jeru- identity alongside an unprecedented de- Green Line or the pre-1967 line). The term salem, even though they could probably mand for Israeli citizenship; stone throw- is somewhat inaccurate from a geographi- find cheaper and better housing elsewhere. ing at Hadassah Hospital on Mount cal perspective since it also includes terri- Permanent residents can apply for Scopus but valuing the care Arabs re- tory north and south of the city. full Israeli naturalization, which requires ceive there; protesting the enforcement These neighborhoods cover about 70 them to swear allegiance to the state, sub- of planning and building laws in Arab square kilometers. In fact, the area of pre- mit proof that they do not hold any other neighborhoods while calling for an in- 1967 Jordanian Jerusalem was only 6.4 citizenship (many residents of eastern Je- creased police presence there to maintain sq. km., in the Old City and its immedi- rusalem hold Jordanian citizenship), and public order; campaigning against “nor- ate environs. After the 1967 Six Day War, demonstrate some fluency in Hebrew. malization” with Israel in tandem with a Israel annexed an additional 63.6 sq. km., Thousands of eastern Jerusalem Ar- tremendous interest in learning Hebrew consisting mainly of 28 Arab villages. The abs apply for the permanent status of

12 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 DAVID KOREN: For Jerusalem’s Arab Residents: The End of an Intermediate Era

A merchant at Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, Israel.

“citizen” in place of their temporary “resi- Arabs who live within it from Ramal- Fatah sports and cultural clubs with a re- dent” status. But the slow process, owing lah and the West Bank, and intensified vived budget by the PA. to the lack of qualified officials in Israel’s their links to the employment, welfare, There is a struggle between parents’ Population Authority, makes them ponder healthcare, and economic infrastructure committees that support the introduction why such a core identity step on their part of western Jerusalem, and consequently of the Israeli curriculum for schools in is met by such a weak Israeli response. to the city’s Jewish sector. eastern Jerusalem with the aim of broad- Permanent residents currently num- ening their children’s educational and ber some 320,000 (plus about 50,000 il- ❚❚“Rejected Child” Matures professional horizons, and parents’ com- legal Arab residents), constituting about The Arabs of eastern Jerusalem mittees affiliated with the PA who wish to 37 percent of the city’s population and 20 feel trapped between Israel and the PA. preserve the Palestinian curriculum due percent of the Arabs within Israel’s bor- They are the “rejected child” of “warring to its national characteristics even though ders. Jerusalem is home to the largest con- parents,” Palestinian and Israeli, each its benefits for access to higher education centration of Palestinian Arabs between of whom is devoted to their other, “pre- and better employment are low. the and the Mediterranean ferred” children. To further complicate matters, the (excluding Gaza). By comparison, the After 50 years of transience, the “re- Israeli government appears not to have population of is about 280,000 jected child” is at the height of adolescence decided whether it wishes to view this and of Nazareth, the largest Arab town and wishes to challenge his parents. This community as an integral part of Israeli in Israel, 75,000. Regarding religion, the process has generated on the eastern Jeru- society or as residual leftovers. majority are Muslims, with only a small salem street an intense desire for “perma- In recent years, the Jerusalem mu- minority of Christians (10,000-15,000). nence,” which is at the heart of sharpening nicipality has undertaken a major effort About 120,000 eastern Jerusalem Ar- power struggles between pro-Palestinian to reduce disparities in the eastern part abs live in neighborhoods that lie within elements and those seeking to realize their of the city and increase enforcement the municipal boundaries of the city but rights as equal residents vis-à-vis the Israeli and governance levels, in coordination are on the other side of the security fence authorities. These inter-communal strug- with and with the assistance of the dis- (constructed around Jerusalem between gles include physical violence, threats, and trict police. The government also recently 2002 and 2007). These neighborhoods intimidation, especially by supporters of passed two resolutions allocating a large- are marked by severe overcrowding and the Palestinian side. scale budget for eastern Jerusalem, some extensive illegal construction to a much Eastern Jerusalem Palestinian youth of which is already being realized, to the greater extent than the neighborhoods are torn between a growing number of benefit of the residents. inside the fence. colleges providing Hebrew classes and However, for a significant improve- The fence has cut off the Jerusalem advanced professional training, and ment in the poor standard of living in

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 13 Palestinian narrative, Israel demolishes Arab homes in Jerusalem); a focus on the Old City in an effort to prevent “Judaiza- tion”; encouraging the establishment of sovereignty symbols competing with Is- rael’s, such as Palestinian hospitals and emergency medical services; and en- couraging Palestinian higher education over Israeli. Alongside the political struggle, the struggle over the Temple Mount (“Ha- ram al-Sharif” in Arabic) has become more acute. The “metal detector crisis” reflects an almost-exact realization of this author’s assessment from the spring of 2017 regarding the strengthening of the Muslim Brotherhood axis at the ex- pense of the PA axis in the Palestinian arena in general and in eastern Jerusa- lem in particular. Social media pages affiliated with the Islamic Movement showcased their blatantly inflammatory incitement against the metal detectors, while in Jerusalem’s light rail system has been subjected to a hail of stones by Palestinian rioters the Palestinian news agencies identified precisely because it is a symbol of the unity of the city. (Photo: Navot Miller) with Abbas this issue was marginalized. But events unified all the various most eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods, The intense effort on the ground streams and segments of the population a vast investment of billions of shekels over the past year to move on from the and consolidated the sense of internal is needed in all areas of life, particularly intermediate status has created a sense unity, which was severely impaired in infrastructure. It seems that the State of of urgency on the governmental side, recent years by the -Fatah conflict Israel has yet to realize that the struggle both Palestinian and Israeli, to take a and the geographic separation (Gaza – for control and sovereignty in Jerusalem, clear stand on governmental invest- Judea and Samaria). As the events on the which was conducted in the past by high- ment in eastern Jerusalem and upgrad- Temple Mount subsided, the Palestin- level international summits and closed ing the level of on-site enforcement and ians of eastern Jerusalem felt a sense of forums, is now managed on the ground. policing. In response, the victory that was probably their first in 50 announced a new security concept that years of Israeli rule. ❚❚Terror and Incitement advocates enhanced police presence in Moreover, in the eyes of the Palestin- Terrorist attacks and the wave of eastern Jerusalem and establishing in- ians, a new worldview was forged in the stabbing incidents led by eastern Jeru- tegrated policing centers – which will Palestinian struggle against the Israeli salem Arabs also express, in their own provide both policing and civilian com- regime, namely, civil resistance (mass mind, an attempt to delineate the bor- munity services to these neighborhoods. prayer in the streets as an example), which ders of the “Palestinian territory” in Je- The past year has also seen a marked led to more significant achievements than rusalem with blood and terror. Internal trend in the PA boosting its dimensions those of violent resistance. discourse among Jerusalem Palestinian of sovereignty in the city. A reflection of Developments reflect the entry of the youth on the social networks – alongside this is the Palestinian government’s bud- Jerusalem Arabs into the power parallel- the glorification of “shahids” defend- getary plan of a total of NIS 25 million ogram operating in the city. The Temple ing al-Aqsa mosque – includes political (of which it is unclear how much, if any, Mount is no longer a sacred site for which discourse emphasizing that deterring will materialize) for eastern Jerusalem. decisions are shaped by the Hashemite the Jews from reaching the city’s “seam This includes enhancement of the Kingdom of Jordan and Waqf officials, lines” between east and west also demar- symbolism of building and renovating but a site on which the Arabs of Jerusalem cates the Palestinian area of Jerusalem. houses in Jerusalem by the PA (in the can have significant influence.

14 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 DAVID KOREN: For Jerusalem’s Arab Residents: The End of an Intermediate Era ❚❚The Intermediate Situation The increased foreign presence in neighborhoods have a mixed population Against the backdrop of the po- the heart of Israel’s capital touches the of Jews and Arabs. Daily interchange litical stalemate, the components of real deepest chords of the issue of Israeli sov- between the two groups has been facili- sovereignty will be dictated by actions ereignty in the eastern part of the city. tated by the road and public transporta- on the ground (bottom-up) rather than Those who believe that Israel should not tion networks that link Arab and Jewish by top-down planning. Local factors are impose its sovereignty on eastern Jeru- neighborhoods. shaping a political reality rather than a salem might welcome this foreign pres- The strongest opposition to the first political rationale shaping the situation ence. However, they must also take into proposal will be voiced by the Palestin- – as would have been expected to occur account the security implications of the ian residents themselves. They view the in such a central and sensitive place. murderous anti-Jewish ideology that PA as a corrupt and failed regime that If Israel wants to secure its sover- some agents of this presence are instill- has no commitment to provide decent eignty in Jerusalem, it must implement a ing in the 320,000 Palestinians who live services to citizens. Hence implementa- widespread plan to boost its governance alongside 550,000 Jews. tion of this plan might lead to an outflow in the eastern part of the city by provid- On the other side, those who con- of Palestinians to the Jewish neighbor- ing services and efficient enforcement demn the foreign presence because it hoods that come under the jurisdiction and policing. “Soft” governance, which undermines Israeli sovereignty and/or of the Jewish municipality. is expressed in the provision of civil ser- vices, does not relate only to the world ...dialogue based on mutual trust with Arab leaders of distributive justice and equalization of living conditions between the differ- in the areas of education, business, and community ent parts of the city, but is related to the life in normal times proved to be invaluable for very core of the political experience of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. moderating violen[ce]... Anyone wishing to affect the nature of this conflict at its Jerusalemite core and due to its grave security implications A 2011 survey polled eastern Jeru- the reality of coexistence between Arabs must be aware that attempts to eliminate salem residents, posing the following and Jews in Israel, will no longer be able to this presence, whether through security question to its participants: “Should your marginalize the issue of the civic engage- or diplomatic channels, are not enough. neighborhood become subject to Pales- ment of eastern Jerusalem Palestinians. Some of these foreign organizations pro- tinian sovereignty, would you choose to In recent years there has been signifi- vide services required by the residents; move to another neighborhood in Jeru- cant progress in realizing this obligation their expulsion would require Israel to salem or another city in Israel?” Around (especially by establishing schools and fill the void, and this would have major 40 percent of the responses were positive. developing road infrastructure), but there budgetary repercussions. Additionally, it is predictable that is still a long way to go. in the case of Jerusalem, significant dif- ❚❚Israeli Policy Alternatives ficulties would arise in coordinating the ❚❚Islamic and Foriegn Actors Two plans for partition of the city municipalities where the shared life is at Other important players are the have been floated recently. such intense and close levels. The munic- Islamic organizations and some inter- The first, which enjoys the support of ipal separation plan will also raise many national actors. Consider Turkey’s ef- various Palestinian elements, would cre- difficulties in dealing with emergency forts to expand its circles of control in ate a municipal separation including the and security issues in the delicate inter- eastern Jerusalem. establishment of a Palestinian munici- face between the two municipalities. Turkey is injecting tens of millions pality to manage the affairs of the Arab The second proposal calls for a uni- of dollars in the areas of culture, welfare, neighborhoods, but would not create a lateral Israeli pullback from the Arab education, and sports in eastern Jeru- physical barrier between the two parts neighborhoods, and the construction salem, while attempting to establish its of the city. A joint committee or agency of a wall between the two parts of the status as guardian of eastern Jerusalem would coordinate between the two city city. Most of the Arab villages incorpo- Palestinians against the “Judaization” of halls, in conjunction with Israel and the rated in 1967 would be de-annexed, their the city. The EU and UN auxiliary bod- Palestinian Authority. 200,000 residents removed from the mu- ies also finance several projects in the ar- A look at the map of the city makes nicipal boundaries of the city, and their eas of education, welfare, infrastructure, plain that the Arab and Jewish neigh- permanent resident status revoked. The and so on, on a broader scale and at a borhoods are interlocked and some- situation in the rest of the eastern part of higher level of visibility than in the past. times only a few meters apart and some the city – the Old City, the Holy Basin,

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 15 and the Jewish neighborhoods – would in normal times proved to be invaluable figures from among the Palestinian remain as at present. for moderating the violent friction be- population, this author surmises that This plan has fatal flaws from the Is- tween the two sides during times of crisis. broad sectors of the Palestinian pub- raeli standpoint. Methods taken from the world of educa- lic hold a pragmatic attitude about the On the security front, there is a risk tion, such as lengthening the school day Israeli authorities, despite their Pales- in handing over territories to the Pales- and keeping children and teens within tinian national identity. They see Israel tinians without coordination, with the a protecting and supportive educational not only as the culprit to be blamed for inevitable boost to terrorist organiza- environment, are another proven way to their predicament as individuals and as tions and dissident PA elements. Build- lower the level of violence. a community, but also as the only pos- ing a barrier through Jerusalem would Finally, the world of social networks, sible source for solving their problems repeat the experience of the previous which played a major role in triggering the and turning their lives around. decade, which made life very difficult violence, also turned out to be a place for Simplifying the naturalization pro- in the Shuafat refugee camp and Kafr positive action. This involved the dissemi- cess for Arab residents of Jerusalem, along Aqub, which in turn impacted the secu- nation of updates and calming messages with increased access to Israeli matricu- rity levels in the nearby Jewish neighbor- on the mayor’s page in Arabic, lation tracks and Israeli institutions of hoods, especially Pisgat Zev. which has around 30,000 followers, mostly higher education, could not only alleviate their sense of frustration and alienation but also encourage a sense of belonging. ...simplifying the naturalization process for Arab There are many Palestinians in east- residents of Jerusalem ... could not only alleviate ern Jerusalem who have reached the in- strumental level of exploiting the advan- their sense of frustration and alienation but also tages offered by the western half of the encourage a sense of belonging. city and would now like to participate in Israeli society at a deeper level – learn- ing from it, integrating into it, and even From the political perspective, the eastern Jerusalem Arabs. It also involved encouraging the growing number of Achilles’ heel of the plan is its total dis- the refuting of disinformation about the eastern Jerusalem teenage boys and girls regard of the role and character of the Temple Mount, to curb and counter the who perform civilian service after high Palestinian actors who would control the incitement propagated by many websites. school in eastern Jerusalem. neighborhoods on the eastern side of the An analysis of the civic aspect of Israel’s encouragement of this trend barrier. The rise of Hamas on the eastern the united city suggests that unity is a has strategic implications not only for the Jerusalem street raises the possibility that partial positive at best for Palestinian unity of the city but also for the mid- and this force might gradually gain control of residents. Constantly exposed to the long-term security perspective. In an- the villages, with all this implies from a immensity of the gulf between the two other decade or two, the teenagers who security and political standpoint. sides of the city and the disparate living engage more deeply with Israeli society standards of the two population groups, today will be the moderates and pragma- ❚❚Living Together they feel alienated from the Jewish sec- tists who restrain Palestinian society. Life in a shared city with no barriers tor and its institutions. During the spate of violence in 2014- between the two groups creates a real se- In recent years there has been a 2016, teachers and principals went out curity challenge, especially in periods of quantum reduction in these gaps and into the streets to retrieve their pupils religious and political tension, as exem- an improvement in the Arab residents’ and to urge them to curb their emotions plified by the knife intifada of the last few standard of living in many domains, in- and avoid harming innocent persons, years, a challenge which the Jerusalem cluding education, social services, roads, both Arabs and Jews. In another decade, police managed to overcome. and leisure time activities. But the gap perhaps these teachers will be joined by The experience of recent years has remains vast and closing it would require businesspeople, community activists, shown that success on the security front another major increase in government and cultural figures who would endeavor requires not only ingenuity by the secu- investment in eastern Jerusalem. to introduce mutual respect and sensitiv- rity agencies but also the enlistment of all Israel should take steps to increase ity to the turbulent reality of Jerusalem. civilian elements in the effort. eastern Jerusalem Arabs’ sense of belong- The intimate dialogue based on mu- ing to the city and the state. DAVID KOR EN, Ph.D, is an advi- tual trust with Arab leaders in the areas of On the basis of the many conver- sor to the Mayor of Jerusalem for education, business, and community life sations held with various prominent Arab and Eastern Jerusalem affairs.

16 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 Jewish-Arab Demography Defies Conventional Wisdom by YORAM ETTINGER

n contrast to conventional demograph- age of 20 years old and older. It has also Algeria – 2.7, Jordan - 3.2, Iraq – 3.4, ic wisdom, the Jewish State is not fac- expanded the use of contraceptives. Egypt – 3.5 and Yemen – 3.6, etc. ing a potential Arab demographic time According to the Population Refer- Contrary to the “demographers Ibomb. In fact, Israel benefits from a ro- ence Bureau, women in the Palestinian of doom” in Israel’s academia and gov- bust Jewish demographic tailwind. Authority rank second (72 percent) – fol- ernment, the demographic trend has Contrary to conventional wisdom, lowing Morocco (78 percent) and together recorded an unprecedented Jewish tail- Israel’s Jewish-Arab demographic bal- with Jordan (70 percent) - among Muslim wind. For example, the number of Jew- ance was dramatically transformed users of contraceptives and general avoid- ish births surged, impressively, 74 per- from six more births per Arab woman in ance of pregnancy. cent, from 80,000 in 1995 to 140,000 in 1969, to 3.11 births each in 2015, and the In addition, Arab , 2017, while the number of Israeli-Arab first Jewish edge of 3.16 to 3.11 births per Judea and Samaria are increasingly inte- births grew, moderately, 22 percent from woman in 2016. grated into the employment market, be- 36,000 in 1995 to 44,000 in 2017. In In 2018, Israel is the only advanced coming more career and social-oriented, 1995, the share of Jewish births in Israel economy and Western-style democracy which terminates their reproductive was 69 percent of total births, surging to endowed with a relatively high fertil- process at the age of 45, rather than 50- 76.5 percent in 2017. ity rate (number of births per woman), 55, as it used to be. The significant rise in the rate which facilitates further economic Furthermore, an intense urbaniza- of Jewish fertility has occurred, even growth with minimal dependency on tion process has transformed (especially though the ultra-Orthodox fertility rate migrant labor. Moreover, Israel’s thriv- the younger) Arabs in Judea and Samaria, has subsided, slightly, due to enhanced ing Jewish demography also strengthens shifting from a 70 percent rural society in integration into the employment market, national security, with larger classes of military recruits, and a more confident foreign policy. Israel is the only advanced economy and Western- The systematic Westernization of style democracy endowed with a relatively high Arab fertility – from 9.5 births per woman in 1960 to 3.11 in 2016 – reflects the accel- fertility rate... erated integration of Israeli Arab women into modernity, and their enhanced social status within the Arab society. 1967 to a 75 percent urban society. In oth- academia and even the military. The rise For instance, as it is among the Ar- er words, from a society which provided a of Israel’s Jewish fertility rate is due to an abs in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), convenient environment for a multitude unprecedented contribution by the secu- whose fertility rate has declined from of children - who were considered an es- lar Jewish sector, including the yuppies 5 births per woman in 2000 to 3.27 sential labor force – to a society which of cosmopolitan . It has been a births in 2017 – and unlike their social does not require, and does not lend itself, derivative of the high level optimism and standing a generation ago - almost all to many children. patriotism, the attachment to national Arab girls in Israel, Judea and Samaria A systematic and dramatic decline roots and a sense of collective/communal complete high school, and increasingly in Islamic fertility rate has taken place responsibility, as well as a substantial re- enroll in colleges and universities. This throughout the Muslim world, except for duction of the choice of abortions. process has delayed the wedding-age the sub-Saharan countries: - 2 births Moreover, the Arabs of Judea and Sa- and the reproductive process – which per woman, Libya – 2, Saudi Arabia – 2.1, maria have experienced annual net-emi- used to start at the age of 15-16 – to the Morocco – 2.11, Tunisia – 2.2, Syria - 2.5, gration since the Jordanian occupation

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 17 of April 1950, except for 1993-1995, when some 100,000 Palestinians arrived from terrorist camps in Tunisia, Yemen, the Sudan and Lebanon on the coattails of the September 1993 Oslo Accord, as- suming the top positions in the Palestin- ian Authority. Also, during the mid-80s, King Hussein curtailed migration across the Jordan River in order to demonstrate his clout to the Palestinians. The extent of Arab net-emigration from Judea and Sa- maria has been around 20,000 annually in recent years. At the same time, Jewish immigra- tion (aliyah) has persisted since 1882, fea- turing major waves every 20 years (e.g., one million during the 1990s and the ear- ly 2000s) and a 20,000-30,000 annual av- erage in recent years. The huge potential of aliyah – from , , Russia, Israeli Children in Jerusalem. Ukraine, additional European countries, and Argentina - awaits a pro-active aliyah approach was adopted with some excep- Israeli census, but they are also in the policy, which has not been undertaken tions: All Palestinians studying abroad Palestinian census. Thus, they are dou- since the end of Prime Minister Yitzhak irrespective of the study period…. Pal- bly counted, and their numbers grow Shamir’s administration in 1992. estinian who live abroad for more than through births. In contrast with conventional wis- one year, and who have a usual place of While the Palestinian Central Bu- dom, the annual number of Israeli emi- residence in the Palestinian territories…” reau of Statistics claims zero net-migra- grants (staying abroad in excess of a year) The Palestinian Central Election tion, there has been a documented rise has decreased substantially from 14,200 Commission issued a press release in in net-annual Arab emigration from in 1990 to 8,200 in 2015, during which October 2004 stating that 200,000 over- Judea and Samaria since 2000, averag- time the population almost doubled from seas residents (over age 18, which was ing 20,000 annually in recent years. A 4.5 million to 8.6 million, respectively. then the median age) expanding the 280,000 net-emigration of Judea and number of illegally counted persons to Samaria Arabs has been documented by ❚❚ Palestinian Manipulation 400,000 were included in the list of vot- Israel’s (which supervises The head of the Palestinian Cen- ers for the 2005 election. Israel’s international passages) since the tral Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Hassan A former head of the PCBS, Louie 1997 Palestinian census. Abu-Libdeh, submitted the results of Shabanah, stated during a June 8, 2005 Over 100,000 Arabs from Judea the first population census at a Febru- debate at the Haifa Technion Ne’eman and Samaria (mostly) and the Gaza ary 1998 press conference: “We counted Institute, when confronted with lower Strip married Israeli Arabs, received Is- 325,000 persons living outside the Pal- birth numbers published by the Pal- raeli ID cards, and therefore were dou- estinian lands for more than one year.” estinian Ministry of Health: “Unlike ble-counted, and their numbers grow According to international regulations, the PCBS, the Palestinian Ministry of through births. people who are away from their home- Health excludes overseas births….” A 32 percent inflated number of country for over a year must be deducted The Palestinian Authority Un- births, claimed by the Palestinian Au- from the count, until they return for, at dersecretary of Interior, Hassan Ilwi, thority, was documented in September least, 90 days. This number is expand- pointed out in October 2014, as reported 2006 by a World Bank study. ing systematically as a result of births by Ma’an, the Palestinian news agency: The 2007 PCBS census included Ar- (which always exceed deaths). “Since 1995, we have registered about abs born in 1845 – yes, 1845 – attesting The unwarranted inclusion of over- 100,000 children born abroad.” to the traditional minimization of death- seas residents in the Palestinian census Some 330,000 Jerusalem Arabs are reporting. In 2009, the PCBS reported was also documented, in February 1998, either Israeli citizens or permanent resi- 1,900 deaths in Gaza, while claiming that by the website of the PCBS: “The de-facto dents, and are therefore included in the the number of Arab casualties during

18 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 YORAM ETTINGER: Jewish-Arab Demography Defies Conventional Wisdom Operation Cast Lead was 1,391…. A June demographic establishment (led by dis- in both locations; overseas residents 10, 1993 study by Israel’s Central Bureau ciples of Prof. Bacchi), Prof. Bacchi erred were included in each census. of Statistics echoed the unreliability in dismissing the prospects of aliyah Should one accept the official Brit- of Palestinian population registration, (Jewish immigration) waves, attribut- ish Mandate statistics, the conclusion stating: “If the Palestinian population ing to Arab fertility permanent mythi- would be that the Arab natural increase registration is accurate, then Palestinian cal rates, assuming that Jewish fertility in the was, ostensibly, the life expectancy is higher than life expec- would be reduced to European levels, highest in human history, dramatically tancy in the USA….” ignoring the eventual Westernization higher than the natural increase in the In 2017, the number of Arabs in Judea of Muslim demography in general, and Arab world. and Samaria Arabs was 1.85 million, not Palestinian demography in particular three million, as claimed by the PCBS. with Jewish demographic trends exceed- ❚❚The Demographic Reality ing expectations (3.11 births per woman, In 2018, notwithstanding the offi- ❚❚No Demographic Doom and 3.3 when both Jewish spouses are cial Palestinian numbers, which are re- In 2018, there are seven million Jews Israeli-born). gurgitated – without due diligence – by in Israel, in contradiction to conventional During the late 1980s, Israel’s de- the international community, there are wisdom and the demography of doom. mographic establishment dismissed seven million Jews in Israel, next to 1.85 For example, in 1898, a leading Prime Minister Shamir’s goal of bring- million Israeli Arabs and 1.85 Arabs in Jewish demographer/historian, Shimon ing one million Jews from the USSR to Judea and Samaria. This is a 65.5 percent Dubnov, ridiculed Theodore Herzl, the Israel. However, these one million Jews Jewish majority, benefitting from an un- founder of modern , for at- arrived and played the key role in cata- precedented robust tailwind of Jewish tempting to establish a Jewish State, pulting the Jewish State scientifically, fertility and net-immigration, compared which would have no more than 500,000 technologically, economically, militarily with a 9 percent Jewish minority in 1900 Jews by 1998, a tiny minority surround- and demographically. and 39 percent Jewish minority in 1947 ed by a vast Arab majority: “The recon- In 1946, David Ben Gurion submit- in the combined area of pre-1967 Israel, struction of the Jewish State in the Land ted to the “Anglo-American Commit- Judea and Samaria. of Israel – with a sizeable Jewish popula- tee of Inquiry” a document - “No Arab The misrepresentation of the demo- graphic reality is designed to afflict Is- rael and its allies with unwarranted de- ...unlike their social standing a generation ago - mographic pessimism/fatalism, cajoling the Jewish State into a reckless retreat almost all Arab girls in Israel, Judea and Samaria from the mountain ridges of Judea and complete high school, and increasingly enroll in Samaria, which dominate Jerusalem, Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv and the colleges and universities. 8-15 mile sliver along the Mediterranean (pre-1967 Israel), which is the home of 70 percent of Israel’s population, transpor- tion – is impossible politically, socially Majority in the Land of Israel” by Israel tation, industrial, educational and medi- and economically…. Political Zionism A. Trivus, highlighting the fundamen- cal infrastructures. is utopian….” Dubnov was off by more tal flaws of the British population cen- Against the backdrop of the afore- than five million Jews. sus, some of which persist today. For mentioned demographic documenta- In 1944, Prof. Roberto Bacchi, the example, most forms were filled and tion, anyone ignoring Israel’s unprec- founder of Israel’s Central Bureau of submitted by Arab clan (Hamula’) lead- edented demographic tailwind, who Statistics, and a globally renowned de- ers, whose interest was to maximize suggests that an Arab demographic time mographer/statistician, lobbied David their political clout and benefits and bomb is haunting the Jewish State, is Ben Gurion, Israel’s founding father, therefore their numbers, at the expense either dramatically mistaken or outra- against declaring independence on de- of truth; the registration of the Arab geously misleading. mographic grounds. According to Bac- inhabitants was never scrutinized; the chi, by 2001 there were supposed to be registration of nomad Arabs (Bedouins) Ambassador YORAM ETTINGER 2.3 million Jews in Israel, a 34 percent was intentionally inflated; the popula- (ret.) is a member of the American- minority. Prof. Bacchi was off by about tion registration suggested that death Israel Demographic Research Group 3.5 million Jews. was rarely reported; migrants from ru- (AIDRG) and a consultant to mem- Like Israel’s contemporary ral to urban areas were double-counted bers of Israel’s Cabinet and Knesset.

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 19 Israel is Worthy and Winning by DAVID M. WEINBERG

here are competing narratives those that highlight Netanyahu at his contributions to UNRWA to fill some of about Israel: that it is flying-high, best, apparently are not in vogue. the shortfall. So much for helping to drive or that it is heading towards di- Instead, journalists and politicians the Palestinians toward political realism! Tsaster. Wise and important ac- around the world were seized by the 50 Then there was Abbas’ speech tors around the world are coming to the percent cut in American funding for the against Washington and against Zionism; conclusion that the first assertion is true. uber-corrupt, super-sinecure organiza- a horrid two-hour harangue filled with Israel is an anchor of sanity and a source tion that purposefully perpetuates the lies, curses, and racist references; a rant of ingenuity in an unruly world. Israel’s Palestinian war against Israel, UNRWA. that rolled back three decades of effort to- strategy of vigilance, patience, and look- They played this as some sort of grand wards Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. ing over the horizon for new partner- humanitarian crisis; as a great disloca- ships is working. tion that would threaten global peace ❚❚The Palestinian Tantrum A deep dissonance between com- and security. Abbas explicitly denied the Jewish peting narratives about Israel has They were oblivious to how ridicu- people’s indigenous roots in the Land become evident; between the Israel- lous this claim is when the Palestinian of Israel; asserted that establishment of is-flying-high narrative, and the Israel- Arabs receive more than $3 billion a the State of Israel was a criminal ven- is-heading-towards-disaster narrative. year in global aid, and especially when ture, and that anybody who helped it Several relatively recent news items nobody in the world has done much to rise was guilty of war crimes; and he re- reflected the debate: Palestinian Author- alleviate the plight of two million Syr- vived classic anti-Semitic tropes about ity President Mahmoud Abbas’ latest retrogressive and hostile speech, Presi- dent Donald Trump’s decision to par- Israel is an anchor of sanity and a source of tially defund the United Nations Relief ingenuity in an unruly world. and Works Agency (UNRWA), dissent over Israel’s plan to deport African in- filtrators, and Prime Minister ’s celebratory visit to India. ian refugees. The latter crisis is indeed Jews/Zionists poisoning Palestinian a great dislocation that is rocking mul- wells and drugging Palestinian kids. ❚❚Good News is Not in Vogue tiple counties in Europe and the Middle And of course, he evinced no willing- The lead item about Israel in the lo- East and truly threatens global peace ness to compromise with Israel in order cal and global media should have been, and security. to secure a better future for his people in my view, the “royal” visit to India. Western journalists and politicians and for ours. The splendidly strong embrace of Israel purposefully played ignorant of the Abbas’s tirade was news in Israel but by India significantly boosts Israel’s re- valuable political message signaled by not so much elsewhere. This enormously gional and global standing. It is an alli- the U.S. aid cut; that Palestinian lead- frustrated Israeli public diplomacy profes- ance of enormous strategic importance. ers have to get real about compromise sionals, who want the world to recognize – It is a gargantuan counter-weight to the with Israel; that the United States will no finally – that it is Abbas and his fellow old- pathetic predictions of Israeli diplomatic longer subsidize an everlasting struggle time Palestine Liberation Organization isolation. Yet, aside from The Jerusalem against Israel anchored in self-images of (PLO) rejectionists who are the obstacle to Post, the news media gave miserly atten- permanent victimhood. peace, not Netanyahu or Israel. tion to Netanyahu’s India coup. Good Belgium certainly didn’t get the They correctly pointed out news stories about Israel’s fortunes, or message. It rushed to increase its that had Netanyahu given a speech

20 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 DAVID Israel is Worthy M. WEINBERG: and Winning – rather than on failures in peacemak- ing with, alas, intransigent and radical- ized Palestinian adversaries. So, there is an Israeli grand strat- egy of sorts, and it has been largely suc- cessful. It involves caution, vigilance, patience, and looking over the horizon for new partnerships. It has led to what Col. (Res.) Dr. Eran Lerman of the Jeru- salem Institute for Strategic Studies calls an anno mirabilis, a “year of wonders,” with a string of Israeli strategic and dip- lomatic achievements. Unfortunately, some self-styled pro- gressive activists and politicians prefer to ignore Israel’s impressive achieve- ments, and instead assert a narrative of Israeli blemish and blunder. They are U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Nikki Haley meets Israeli Prime fixated on Palestinian rights despite the Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on June 7, 2017. (Photo: U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv) objective problems, and on the rights of African infiltrators in Israel, on the one-one-hundredth as critical of the Pal- across the region and the grave threats rights of Bedouin in the Negev, on the estinian Arabs, or one-one-thousandth to world security (such as the Iranian rights of non-Orthodox Jewish religious as dismissive of Palestinian rights, or drive for Mideast hegemony and totali- denominations in Jerusalem and so on. one-one-millionth as hostile to world tarian Islamist terror attacks), the Israe- All of the above are serious issues leaders, he would have been excoriated li-Palestinian conflict is a sad but man- that require respectable attention and internationally at the highest levels for ageable problem. responsible policymaking. But they have weeks on end. It’s terrible that Abbas is blocking become “intersectional” causes, around Netanyahu would have been tarred- any movement toward peace – indeed it’s which some people rally, lovingly and and-feathered in immediate emergency tragic for Israel – but we are all rightfully less-lovingly, to confront the Israeli gov- session of the UN Security Council. Is- seized by more urgent challenges, and in- ernment with the explicit threat that rael would have been convicted of killing deed greater opportunities elsewhere. unless the government bends their way the peace process. Sanctions would have Which brings me back to India and across the board, Israel will lose global followed. European foreign ministers Israel; China and Israel; Africa and Is- support and become an “immoral” or would have been tripping over them- rael; Central America and Israel; North “apartheid” state. selves to compete for the coveted title of America and Israel; the moderate Sunni That is an unacceptable way to re- most-aggressive Netanyahu-basher. Arab States and Israel. Wise and impor- late to Israel. It generally involves gross But when Abbas unmasks the deep- tant actors around the world are beating simplification and misrepresentation of est Palestinian decrepitude and blows a path to the prime minister’s doorstep the delicate issues at hand. It easily leads all hopes for a stable peace out of the in Jerusalem (yes, in Jerusalem!) seeking to special pleading on behalf of the Pal- water – nada. The world is silent or not opportunities to cooperate with Israel, estinian side including silence over paying attention. not to isolate her. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, They have come to accept a central dismissal of Israeli rights and invoking ❚❚That’s Just Fine strategic assertion made by Netanyahu: “social justice” to cloak antisemitism. My view is that this is just fine. Isra- that Israel is an anchor of sanity and a Sober and caring leaders should reject el doesn’t need to draw attention to Ab- source of ingenuity in an unruly world. this approach and cheer up – because bas’ sad last words. I sense a new matu- They recognize that Israel should be Israel is worthy and winning. rity on the part of global observers with judged on its central role in promoting regard to the relative non-importance of regional stability, and its leadership in DAVID M. WEINBERG is Vice the Palestinian plaint. advancing globally-useful partnerships President of the Jerusalem Insti- In the grander scheme of things, in the fields of education, democracy, tute for Strategic Studies; the Insti- given the tectonic changes sweeping hi-tech, bio-tech and cyber-tech, etc. tute published a version of this article.

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 21 Other Embassies Will Follow U.S. to Jerusalem An inFOCUS Interview with Ambassador DANNY AYALON Ambassador Danny Ayalon is an Israeli diplomat, columnist and politician. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister and a member of Israel’s Knesset. He served as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States from 2002 to 2006. He frequently writes in Israeli and international newspapers, notably in The Jerusalem Post and The Wall Street Journal. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Ayalon worked to expand Israel’s social media diplomacy by helping the ministry maintain over 100 Facebook pages, including “Israel speaks Arabic.” inFOCUS Editor Shoshana Bryen spoke with him recently.

inFOCUS: Israel is turning 70; appreciated by the Jewish people. Hamas openly says that its goal is to de- it’s also 3,000 years old. How do I believe that following this, many stroy the Jewish state. The Palestinian you as an Israeli, particularly other countries will join suit. We al- Authority (PA) and its parent organiza- one who represented Israel ready know that Guatemala is going tion, the Palestine Liberation Organiza- abroad, feel about President to put its embassy in Jerusalem on the tion (PLO), do not say in so many words, Trump’s decision to recognize same day, Israel’s Independence Day. I but when you check and judge their ac- Jerusalem as Israel’s capital? hear also some other countries in Latin tions in terms of glorifying terrorists, fi- America, and hopefully the other conti- nancing them, and encouraging them to Amb. Danny Ayalon: Israel is 3,000 nents will do the same. This is very, very kill Jews – and look at their school cur- years old as a nation, starting when King significant. As the president said, it just riculum, where they teach their children David established sovereignty over the recognizing the obvious. When people that they must claim the entire land. Not land of Zion – Judea, Samaria, and of ask why President Trump moved the just Judea and Samaria, but also the Ne- course Jerusalem. We are 4,000 years American embassy to Jerusalem, it’s the gev and the Galilee and everywhere else old as a people, starting when Abraham wrong question. The question is why did – they are refusing to accept and recog- came to the land and started us as a peo- it take so long? nize Israel as the Jewish State. ple. Every inch of the land shows 4,000 All these things, of course, are very, years of rich Jewish culture, civilization, iF: President Trump also cut very troubling. They are not prepared and presence. Israel was reestablished as funds from the U.S. contribu- for peace; basically, they’re not even a modern state 70 years ago. The termi- tion to UNRWA. Essentially, prepared to build their own state. More nology is very important in the age of he told the Palestinians, “You than they want to build their nation, political warfare that the Palestinians have to make changes in how they want to destroy ours. Of course, are waging against us. you do things in order to have we will never let them do that. In terms We are very proud. We have a thriv- this money.” That’s new for the of whether they are capable of running ing, dynamic country in so many fields: United States. Would you talk their own affairs in a responsible, ac- agriculture, high tech, education, now about how negotiations - if countable way, I’m not sure at all. If it even energy. Israel is very strong mili- there are ever going to be any wasn’t for the IDF [Israel Defense Forc- tarily and economically – and culturally with the Palestinians - could es] presence in Judea and Samaria, I am as well. But there was always this trav- be structured; what the Pal- not sure that the Palestinian Authority esty – that our historical, natural capital estinians would have to do would even last one day. What happened was not recognized by the other nations. to make it worth doing; and in the Gaza Strip in 2006, 2007, after We are the only country that is discrimi- whether or not you think it’s their elections? Hamas overpowered the nated against in this area. possible to talk to them at all? Palestinian Authority in one day. President Trump not only did the The same thing would happen in right thing, the moral thing, the politi- Amb. Ayalon: That’s a very good ques- Judea-Samaria without our presence cally correct thing, he made a very his- tion; especially given the very intractable there. It is clear they are not ready. And toric move. For that he will forever be Palestinian position. Not only of Hamas; running prematurely to set up some

22 inFOCUS | Spring 2018

The Syrian Arab regime wanted to go to war. They had plans for war. INTERVIEW: kind of independent entity for the Pal- estinians would end up with the same terrorist state – prey to ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Hamas. And, of course, to Iranian Ambassador Danny Ayalon influence as well. Then, it will become a launching pad. Not only against Israel, but also against all the other Arab coun- tries. I’m not sure that there is much de- sire among the Arabs for a Palestinian state. Of course, the rhetoric is, for obvi- ous reasons, different. As for UNRWA, it is unique. All refugees – we’re talking about millions of refugees in the world today – are all handled by one organization, UNHCR [the UN High Commission on Refugees]. But there is one organization, UNRWA, specifically dedicated to Pales- tinian refugees. This is part of the politi- cal war against Israel, the result of the au- tomatic Arab majority in the UN, which really renders the organization a rubber stamp for the Palestinians. UNRWA, Ambassador Danny Ayalon unfortunately, unlike UNHCR, does not help any refugees resettle. Quite the con- still keep them in refugee camps. Amb. Ayalon: Yes. relations have never trary. UNRWA has perpetuated refugee Palestinians keep those Palestin- been better because of our mutual inter- status through the generations – which ians in refugee camps, although they est in security, in fending off terror at- is contrary to international law. Accord- receive billions of dollars to rehabilitate tacks, which are designed to destabilize ing to international law, second genera- them. It is obvious that they keep these the sitting regimes in Cairo and in Am- tion displaced people who are born in a poor refugees as pawns and use them man – turning them into extreme ones, host country are to have all the civil and to delegitimize Israel; to claim what’s under the Muslim Brotherhood, which human rights, naturalization, and every- euphemistically called the “right of re- is, of course, the umbrella organization thing else that enables them to become a turn.” As I said, there is no right in terms of Hamas. We work very well with the citizen of their new state. of return. And it shows you again the ir- Jordanian and Egyptian governments. responsibility of Palestinian leadership. Also, these two countries now are get- iF: Which is why Arabs who re- In order to further their objective of de- ting Israeli natural gas. The gas arrange- mained inside the state of Is- stroying Israel, they’re willing to subject ment has been in place with Jordan rael are not refugees; they’re their own people to that misery. for quite some time. A few weeks ago, citizens of Israel. a major deal – $16 billion – for energy iF: You are a diplomat. You’ve supplies was signed between Israel and Amb. Ayalon: Absolutely. The outrage worked to establish good rela- Egypt. Israel supplies Jordan with water here is that we’re talking about third and tions with Israel’s neighbors. also. Relationships are developing very, fourth generation “refugees.” They’re I want to ask you first about very well. Unfortunately, the population not refugees. When you talk about the two with whom you have peace there still is still quite hostile to Israel “right of return,” in reality, there is no – Egypt and Jordan – and then because there is incitement in the media right and there is no return. The refu- about countries that you work and in schools. gees are kept in really inhumane or pov- with where you don’t have for- erty-level conditions in Lebanon, Syria, mal recognition – such as Saudi iF: Do you see any chance that Jordan, and others. The outrage is that Arabia and Oman. Can you talk a country like Saudi Arabia even under the control of the Palestin- to me about how Israel oper- will ultimately have open re- ian Authority in Judea and Samaria, or ates today with Jordan and lations with Israel? Peaceful whether it’s Gaza under Hamas, they with Egypt? relations?

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 23 Amb. Ayalon: Unfortunately, no. The Since the deal and lifting sanctions, very, very smart and, in a way, cautious. Saudis are very mindful of what we Iran is much more bold and brazen. It They would fight to the last terrorist, to call “the sentiment of the street.” This has much more money and has opened the last Afghan, to the last Hamas terror- is what the Palestinians have been do- relations with many more countries. ist. But they are very careful not to engage ing through the years; they very much This allows it to pour money into its il- their own forces. They know that unlike control the sentiment of the Arab street legal missile program and into terrorism perhaps most of the Arab countries in the through their incitement. Just as they throughout the Middle East and beyond. region, Israel has the ability to defend it- tried to topple of the regime of King Iran has to be watched very carefully. self by itself, and the repercussion for Iran Hussein in 1970 and Lebanon in 1980, Iran is a threat, first and foremost, to from an open and direct confrontation with us would be devastating for them. My take is that they will continue to en- croach, especially with proxies, but they UNRWA has perpetuated refugee status through the will not do it themselves. If they make that mistake, they will leave us no choice generations – which is contrary to international law. but to defend ourselves.

iF: Russia seems to have a pret- ty good sense also of Israel’s they threaten any regime that would its neighbors, the Gulf countries. Iran red lines in Syria and seems to openly recognize Israel. I am afraid that wants to become the leader in the Mid- agree with them generally. the Persian Gulf countries and Saudi dle East of all the Arab countries and, of Can you talk about Israel’s re- Arabia will be very careful before they course, to control the Gulf oil. Second, it lationship with Russia, which move and bring this relationship into is a threat to us. The mullahs have said seems to be much stronger now the open. But, the Middle East is chang- openly that they would like to than it used to be? ing as we speak. What was unimagina- be destroyed. ble five or ten years ago may be imagin- And they have not given up their Amb. Ayalon: Absolutely. I think Prime able today. I do hope that the Saudis and nuclear ambition. The Iran deal contains Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deserves other countries will realize that they can a sunset clause – which means that eight all the credit. The relationship he has de- gain much more than they lose. years from today the Iranians are no veloped with [Russian President Vladi- longer obligated by the agreement. This mir] Putin is very instrumental; Putin iF: You mentioned Iran as the is something that has to be corrected. understands our red lines. Also, from reason that the Persian Gulf The other thing that has to be corrected a geopolitical point of view, Russia and countries see Israel as part of and interjected into a new deal is that Iran’s interest diverge when it comes to the solution, and part of their they will not be allowed to continue bal- post-civil war Syria. Certainly, Russia security. Can you talk about listic missile testing. would not want to see Syria fall prey to Iran in Syria? Iranian influence entirely. Russia has too iF: If you’re Iran, you’re happy much to lose, and too many investments. Amb. Ayalon: First of all, Israel was right today because you have bur- In that respect, I don’t think it should be to draw its two red lines. One is against the geoning trade with the Euro- too surprising that they acknowledge Iranians allowing their proxies in Syria to peans, and money, and all the our interest there, and that they look the establish their military outposts, and mili- rest. But if you’re Iran, when other way when we do what we need to tary bases, near Israel’s borders; and, of you look at Israel and red lines do in Syria. course, weapon and missile arsenals. The in Syria, do you believe Israel? second is delivering to Hamas weapons Or do you think you’re safe? iF: I was recently on The Truth that we will not tolerate, including longer- About Israel website – where range missiles with much more accuracy Amb. Ayalon: If I were them, I would you figure prominently. I and heavier payloads than they have now. believe Israel without question. watched the videos and they’re Iran, contrary to what we were told by all They’re coming closer, very close, to really wonderful. Can you the supporters of the Iran [nuclear] deal our borders, to our airspace. You know talk about ways, both through in 2015, did not become more tame or how we responded to the intrusion into that website and other ways, responsible, or more open to the interna- our airspace. We will continue to do that that you can reach people so tional community. Quite the opposite. in a very effective way. Iran, you know, is they understand the funda-

24 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 INTERVIEW: Ambassador Danny Ayalon

Tel Aviv’s famous beachfront. mental truths about Israel? – the better we become at countering puses, and in a lot of places, Are these videos well seen? the lies of the Palestinians, keeping the speaking about Israel. What are Are there other things Israel record straight, and basically telling the the two or three questions that needs to be doing? truth about Israel and the Jewish people. are most often asked of you? The more we do that, the closer we are to First, by Jewish audiences. What Amb. Ayalon: I’m very proud of The winning the political war. do they want to know? Secondly, Truth About Israel (www.TheTruth- Thetruthaboutisrael.org. Go there. what are the questions most of- AboutIsrael.org) because the videos Look at different sections. There is the ten asked by non-Jews? have been seen by millions and mil- truth about Jerusalem; the truth about lions of people. I didn’t realize how fast apartheid; the truth about refugees; the Amb. Ayalon: Non-Jews ask, “Why they move. Today, most people get most truth about the West Bank; the truth don’t you free Palestine?” Here I have of their information through social me- about settlements; the truth about the to bring up BDS [the boycott, disinvest- dia. In that respect, it’s very important to UN and many, many other core issues. ment, sanctions movement]. Unfortu- have not only a presence, but to level the Israel and its friends have to be pres- nately, many, many, I think misguided playing field for information dominance. ent on American college campuses and in Jews joined BDS thinking it was a way A while ago, the Palestinians, with their the classic media, but that was actually the to influence and change Israel’s policies collaborators, controlled the social me- driving force to begin using social media. on settlements or whatever. This is not dia. Now we give them a good fight. I realized that I would never have the re- the aim of the BDS movement. It was My objective is that anyone who sources to be present on 4,000 campuses. formed by Omar Barghouti, a Palestin- Googles the words Israel or Jewish State So, I thought, why not reach students on ian activist. The aim is not to change or Palestine, arrives at our website. The their keyboards? Or on their iPhones and Israeli policy, but to destroy Israel. The more shares, the more likes, the higher iPads? Before even they get into the cam- battle cry of BDS is “From the river to our website will go. People will get ours, puses. It has been very successful. the sea, Palestine will be free. not a Palestinian website. So, if I can ask When I’m asked by non-Jews, “Why your readers – the more they share and iF: At the same time, I know that don’t you free Palestine?” I answer, ask their friends to share with others you are present on a lot of cam- “What do you mean? Was there ever a

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 25 Palestinian state?” “Of course,” they say. The Chinese have very deep respect for We know what happened to our people Then I ask them, “If you think there was Jews, and the Jewish culture. Theirs is in 2,000 years of exile, when we were a Palestinian state in history, can you an ancient and cultured civilization just not home. This is not unique to us. Any name a Palestinian king, or president, like ours, so, they respect us very much people that does not have the capability or ruler? Or any Palestinian leader be- for our Nobel prizes and other achieve- to defend itself – whether it’s the Syrian fore the age of television, or 1967?” Of course, they cannot. Very basic facts are not known. Of course, not only are they not known, ...what people should know is that we will defend they are being manipulated and erased by the Palestinians. By university facul- ourselves by ourselves... ty, also. There’s a lot of very bad history in American universities. From Jewish audiences, the ques- tion is more in the field of human rights. ments. We have many, many delegations people, or in Rwanda, or Bosnia – those Are we not infringing on Palestinians’ from China, from Korea, from people are afraid of aggression and there human rights with roadblocks and tak- that are looking for economic coopera- is no remedy or help from the “interna- ing their land, and all that? Here, of tion with Israel. tional community.” The international course, the answer is really very simple. community is very hypocritical, it is There wouldn’t even be one check point iF: What’s the best thing a cynical, it is ineffective. If it gets there at or roadblock had it not been for Pales- tourist can do in Israel? all, it is too little too late. tinian terrorism. We can show, in a sci- This is the most important thing; entific way, that every time we remove a Amb. Ayalon: Tel Aviv was selected by defense. That we have a home now, back roadblock, there is terror in that place. Vogue magazine as one of three most fun in our homeland. I’m asked a lot about the security cities in the world. When people come to Second, the fact that Israel is vi- fence. Some call it, of course, the “apart- Tel Aviv and they can enjoy culture, and brant and thriving is an asset for Jews heid wall.” This is again Palestinian pro- music, and the beautiful beaches. By the all over the world. I don’t think any paganda. I tell them, “This extra defense way, National Geographic magazine also Jewish community, anywhere in the was put there only after our presence selected the beaches of Israel and Tel world, would be able to live as securely there for 40 years. We put it there as a Aviv among the 10 best in the world. You now without the State of Israel. This has response to the suicide bombings. And it can come to Israel for culture, for food, to be understood. All of us, whether we works.” The fact is that since we have the for recreation. But also, very important, are Jews who live in Israel, or Jews who fence, we keep most of the terrorists out. you come for a spiritual experience; es- live anywhere else, we all have a stake Again, we have very, very good answers pecially in Jerusalem. in a very vibrant, and successful, and to all the questions. secure Israel. iF: The beach first – spoken But finally, we are vulnerable on the iF: Maybe the best way to learn like a Tel Avivian. As we come political front. Palestinians understand about Israel is to go to Isra- to Israel’s 70th birthday, what that they cannot win militarily. Thank el. I understand that there is, is the most important thing God. They know that they cannot win first of all, increased tour- that you want Americans to through economic pressure; they tried ism in general in Israel this understand about Israel? and failed. So, they’re trying politically year over last year. But also, About your life, your politics, to isolate Israel and render it a pariah a great many more tourists all the wonderful things that state. That’s a danger. Here, I believe, coming from places like China. Israel is? What do you want us every friend of Israel everywhere can be What does that do for Israel’s to know? an ambassador for the truth; an ambas- relationship with China? sador for Israel. Amb. Ayalon: What’s important to un- Amb. Ayalon: It is a great asset – for derstand is that Israel, with all it great iF: That’s a great answer. Israel, and for the relationship with achievements, still faces an existential Thank you for your your in- any country, including China. Anyone threat. And what people should know sights, on behalf of the Jewish who visits Israel, certainly for the first is that we will defend ourselves by our- Policy Center and the readers time, finds it an emotional experience. selves; nobody will do the job for us. of inFOCUS Magazine.

26 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 Israel and the U.S: Partners in Science by ALBERT H. TEICH

ornell University ranks 13th on and business, it offers a Tech MBA as genetic background of the Jewish peo- the list of top research universities well as master’s degrees in computer sci- ple. They began to work together, travel- in the United States. Its research ence, electrical and computer engineer- ing around Israel and Southern Europe Cexpenditures in 2016 were nearly ing, operations research and information in order to recruit individuals from $1 billion, more than such research pow- engineering; a Master of Laws in law, populations of Jews not well-represented erhouses as MIT, Yale, Columbia, and the technology and entrepreneurship; and in the United States, each supplementing University of California’s flagship cam- Technion-Cornell dual master’s degrees the other’s knowledge and techniques. pus, Berkeley. Its distinguished faculty in “connective media” and health tech. It Their work, which has been published in and alumni have received 47 Nobel Prizes. also offers Cornell Ph.D. programs and a prestigious scientific journals such as the It probably wouldn’t surprise many peo- novel project called the “Runway Startup American Journal of Human Genetics, is ple, therefore, to know that Cornell and Postdoc Program” that offers academic contributing to a multi-institution proj- a partner institution were the successful and business mentorship plus substantial ect that is creating a genetic map of Jew- bidders in a worldwide competition spon- financial support to help recent Ph.D.s ish diasporas and comparing it to other sored by the City of New York to build and launch high tech startups. Middle Eastern populations. operate a new high-tech university cam- Although the presence of a top Is- Their research is helping to under- pus in New York. What might surprise raeli university in Manhattan is unique, stand the genetic basis of disorders like some, however, is that Cornell’s partner collaboration among Israeli and Ameri- breast cancer in the Jewish population. in this unique collaborative enterprise is can scientists and engineers is not. Nei- And the collaborative aspect is an essential not another U.S. institution, but the Tech- ther is it new, nor is it limited to high element. In Professor Friedman’s words, nion, the Israel Institute of Technology. tech. Indeed, joint U.S.-Israeli efforts “Having a partner who shares your goal Why the Technion? Though young- in fundamental research have yielded and understands every aspect of a project er and smaller, the Israeli institution has groundbreaking results and have re- of this magnitude is crucial for its success.” a worldwide reputation for innovation ceived world-wide recognition, includ- Support for Friedman and Ostrer’s and entrepreneurship, and the dozens ing at least one Nobel Prize. Much of research was provided by the U.S.-Israel of successful enterprises it has spawned this research develops out of human re- Binational Science Foundation (BSF), an are among the key reasons that Israel has become known as the “startup nation.” According to The Chronicle of Higher ...joint U.S.-Israeli efforts in fundamental research Education, “Cornell Tech aims to be a different kind of higher-education insti- have yielded groundbreaking results and have tution, infused with some of the Tech- received world-wide recognition... nion’s DNA, even as officials in Israel and in New York acknowledge that a lot of the Technion’s culture . . . is intimate- lationships that draw together research- organization created under a historic 1972 ly tied to its role in Israel’s early Zionist ers both professionally and personally. agreement between the two nations that past and in its current high-tech boom.” One such relationship began when has been supporting collaborative research Cornell Tech, as it is known, dedi- Professor Eitan Friedman, founder of between scientists from the two nations for cated its campus on Roosevelt Island in the oncogenetics unit at Sheba Medical the past 46 years. When it was founded, the the East River between Manhattan and Center in Israel and Professor Harry Os- Israeli science community was clearly the Queens in September 2017. It currently trer, then of New York University School junior partner. Today, although the U.S. enrolls about 300 students and 30 faculty of Medicine, now at , science community retains global leader- members. Heavily focused on technology discovered their common interest in the ship, Israeli science in many fields is also

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 27 world class. Israeli scientists are widely U.S. component is funded by NSF, while the U.S. and Israeli governments. BIRD, sought as collaborators, and the relation- the Israeli component is funded by BSF, the Binational Industrial Research and ship between the two nations is seen by all using special funds it receives from the Development Foundation, created in1977, involved as mutually beneficial. Israeli government, independent of the supports cooperation in the private sec- BSF-sponsored U.S.-Israeli collabo- BSF endowment. In general, the success tor, involving Israeli and U.S. companies, ration reached the pinnacle of scientific rate of the joint proposals has been high- startups as well as established firms. Its achievement in 2004, when the Nobel er than that of other NSF proposals, sug- model is one of risk-sharing: BIRD funds Prize for Chemistry was awarded to gesting the added value of collaboration. 50 percent of each company’s R&D costs Professors Avram Hershko and Aaron In 1979, seven years after BSF was es- under conditional grants, up to a total of Ciechanover of the Technion, and Profes- tablished, the two partner nations expand- $1 million. It does not take equity posi- sor Irwin Rose of the University of Cali- ed the range of their support of scientific tions in the firms it supports, but instead fornia, Irvine, for their joint discovery of collaboration with the creation of BARD, requires repayment of its grant if the proj- the ubiquitin system of protein degrada- the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural ects produce commercial revenues. BIRD tion, which regulates the breakdown of Research and Development Fund. Most supports 20 projects annually and reports proteins governing almost all major func- of BARD’s projects focus on increasing that “the cumulative sales of products de- tions of the cell. Their discovery, a major agricultural productivity, especially in hot veloped through BIRD projects have ex- advance in fundamental life science re- and dry climates, such as that of Israel and ceeded $10 billion.” search, also led to an important applica- comparable areas of the United States. In one recent BIRD-sponsored col- tion: the development of a new anti-can- cer drug known as bortezomib (marketed in the U.S. under the tradename Velcade), ...reactions to [hostility to Israel] have led some an injection-based treatment for multiple American scientists to develop their own local myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow that affects more than 15,000 Americans initiatives to counter the BDS image of Israel... each year. The collaboration that pro- duced this result was supported for 15 years by a series of BSF grants. In one collaborative effort funded by laboration, Voiceitt (Technologies of BSF supports fundamental research BARD, researchers at the Volcani Agri- Voice Interface, Ltd.), an Israeli startup, is in more than a dozen fields of basic and ap- cultural Institute in Beit Dagan, working partnering with SCJ Associates, an elec- plied research, from behavioral genetics to with colleagues at the University of Geor- tronics manufacturing service in Roches- oceanography to materials science. Most gia, have developed an aerodynamic/elec- ter, N.Y., to develop an innovative speech BSF grants are funded by income from an trostatic method to deliver fine particles recognition application that translates the endowment created by the U.S. and Israeli of either chemical or biological materials non-standard speech patterns of people governments when the BSF was created in such as pesticides with exceptional preci- with speech disabilities into clear speech 1972 and augmented once in 1984. sion and efficiency. BARD reported that in real time. The technology, which has Facing rising costs of research and the equipment developed under this proj- won several awards, received a $900,000 a more or less fixed income, BSF worked ect has been patented and is being mar- conditional grant from BIRD. According with the U.S. National Science Founda- keted internationally by the University of to BIRD’s announcement “Voiceitt will tion to develop a creative approach that Georgia. Other BARD projects include provide the voice technology software and is generating funding from outside of breeding heat tolerant varieties of wheat (a SCJ Associates will be responsible for the BSF’s core program. In 2012, the two or- joint effort of Texas Tech University and design and manufacture of the wearable ganizations signed an umbrella memo- the Volcani Institute), biological control of hardware for future commercialization.” randum of understanding for joint fund- soil-borne pathogens (Hebrew University The BIRD grant recognized not just the ing of collaborative research projects. and Cornell University) and increasing commercial potential, but also the pro- Under this umbrella, they have agreed the resilience of local agricultural water spective social impact of the technology. upon specific programs in 18 areas rang- supplies though wastewater reuse (a col- All three binationals originated ing from computational neuroscience to laboration of BARD, the U.S. National In- through agreements between the U.S. and geology. Proposals are written jointly by stitute of Food and Agriculture, and the Israeli governments in the 1970s, long be- United States and Israeli scientists. They University of California at Riverside). fore the current political environment on are reviewed and evaluated in the U.S. as A rather different model of collabo- many U.S. campuses spawned hostility a single project along with regular NSF ration is employed by the third of the trio to Israel and before the BDS (boycott, di- proposals. If accepted for funding the of binational foundations sponsored by vestment, sanctions) movement. In recent

28 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 ALBERT H. TEICH: Israel and the U.S: Partners in Science using nanocomposite liquid crystals that can be switched instantly from transpar- ent to translucent. Private philanthropy is also playing a significant role in collaboration. The Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program, announced with much fanfare in Janu- ary 2016, is investing $100 million over 20 years in U.S.-Israel science and technolo- gy collaboration. In announcing the pro- gram, billionaire publisher and real estate mogul Mortimer Zuckerman stated, “At a time when collaboration is essential to advanced scientific research, this pro- gram gives the next generations of lead- ing American and Israeli academics the ability to work together on cutting edge Professors Avram Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover at the Technion. research in ways that stand to benefit their years, reactions to that hostility have led and Technology Initiatives. Prominent fields for years to come.” The program is some American scientists to develop their among these is the MIT-Israel Program. providing funding for outstanding Amer- own local initiatives to counter the BDS Although much of this program is stu- ican researchers to do postdoctoral work image of Israel by showing Israel in a posi- dent-focused and matches undergradu- at several Israeli universities; supplemen- tive light through scientific collaborations. ate and graduate students with internship tary support for Israeli postdocs at Ameri- In 2016, a small group of faculty members and teaching opportunities across Israel, can universities; and funding to Israeli at the University of California at Davis the program also includes “Israel Seed universities to help them compete for the began their own program to promote Funds,” which support new collabora- top talent in the global marketplace. Sev- collaboration among scientists on their tions between MIT faculty and research en top Israeli institutions are participating campus and colleagues in Israel. The Vice scientists and their Israeli counterparts. in the program. Chancellor for Research at Davis agreed Within the Seed Funds there is a dedi- Science is an intrinsically interna- to match the funds they were able to raise, cated program connecting MIT and Ben tional activity and has been for centu- and with that financial base they created Gurion University. The Seed Funds pro- ries. The Internet, the declining cost of a tax-exempt “California Israel Fund,” is- vide awards of up to $30,000, primarily air travel, and the growing use of English sued a call for proposals, and set up peer for travel of teams, including students, as the international language of science review processes at Davis and in Israel. from the respective countries. have made international collaboration Thirty-eight groups, each involv- Projects supported by the MIT-Israel far easier and less costly than in the past. ing U.S. and Israeli scientists, submitted Program cover a remarkably wide range of Recent studies have shown that there is a proposals; eight either have been or will topics. Winners of the most recent (2017- direct correlation between international be funded. The organizers expect that 18) competition included MIT Professor collaboration and increased productivi- some of these (and perhaps some that of Civil and Environmental Engineering ty in science. The mobility of both Israeli were not funded) will go on to win sup- Admir Masic, a former Bosnian refugee, and America scientists and the cultural port from other sources, such as BSF and and Elisabetta Boaretto, a nuclear physi- ties between the two nations continue BARD. And, as word gets out, the Davis cist and head of the Weizmann Institute’s to grow. The personal and institutional model may well be emulated by entre- Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory. Their connections that are being built today preneurial Israel-oriented scientists on project is mining ancient Roman con- seem certain to yield dividends for both other campuses. struction technologies for insights that societies far into the future. Institutional support as well as can inform future building techniques. In strong faculty and student interest is be- the 2015-16 competition, MIT mechanical ALBERT H. TEICH, Ph.D., is a Research hind collaboration at the Massachusetts engineering professors Gareth McKinley Professor of Science, Technology and Institute of Technology. MIT has collab- and George Barbastathis teamed up with International Affairs at George Wash- orative educational programs with nearly Professor Ibrahim Abdulhalim, electro- ington University and a former member two dozen countries through a program it optical engineer at Ben Gurion University, of the Board of Governors of the U.S.- calls MISTI – MIT International Science on a project to develop “smart windows” Israel Binational Science Foundation.

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 29 Ethiopian Aliyah: An Identity-Building Journey by PNINA AGENYAHU

uring preparations for Israel’s substantial importance associated with of my life also accentuated my differ- much-anticipated 70th birth- the dignity of one’s elders and with other ences. For instance, everyone had books day celebration, it was natu- authority figures. at home, while I needed to borrow books ral to look back with pride on from the public library (a 30-minute D ❚❚ the relatively young country’s various Questions of Identity walk from my home) or from school. success stories. When it comes to my My transition to Israel was challeng- own chapter in the decades-long story ing not necessarily because I needed to ❚❚History of Ethiopian Aliyah of Israel’s Ethiopian Jewish immigra- learn a new language and adjust to Israe- While I was grappling with this per- tion, absorption, and assimilation, I li culture, but due to the sharp transition sonal transformation and with finding am flooded with the myriad thoughts between the values of Ethiopia’s simple my place in Israeli society, thousands of and emotions that continue to indelibly world to the Jewish State’s emphasis on my peers were either on a parallel jour- shape my identity. the power of the individual. This was ney or arriving anew. During the decade I departed Ethiopia at age 3 in No- not taught at immigrant absorption cen- that followed Mengistu’s rise to power vember 1984, with my mother literally ters. Nobody explicitly spelled out the in 1977, Ethiopian immigration to Is- carrying me on her back for a walk of gap that exists between the older and rael was clandestine, and was managed 14 days and 15 nights until we reached younger generations. As someone who by the Israeli government along with the Israel. At the time, from 1984-1985, Op- immigrated to Israel at such a young age, Jewish Agency. Suffering persecution at eration Moses facilitated the aliyah of I did not vividly remember Ethiopia, but the hands of Ethiopia’s Marxist regime 6,364 Jews from refugee camps in Sudan the values of my past life were constantly for holding Jewish educational and Zi- via intermediate countries by foot, plane, present in my parents’ home. Like many onist activities, many Jewish villagers and boat. In 1977, Ethiopia’s Marxist dic- other immigrants, I was forced to ad- became refugees. tator Mengistu Haile Mariam banned dress the gap between what was expect- The first wave of refugees, including my family, traveled all the way to Israel by foot with virtually no aid. Under- The first wave of refugees, including my family, traveled standing the intense need, the , the Israel Defense all the way to Israel by foot with virtually no aid. Forces, and the Jewish Agency teamed to establish more effective procedures and improved conditions for Ethiopian Jewish immigration to Israel, necessitat- ed of me at home and what was waiting aliyah. The IDF and Mossad began to ing efforts like Operation Moses that are for me on the outside. bring Ethiopian Jews to safety in Israel, known as “aliyah of rescue.” How did I ultimately acclimate to and the Jewish Agency welcomed and Life in Ethiopia was very simple for life in Israel? I constantly asked myself absorbed the refugees, housing them in my family. We grew up in a small, mod- questions of identity, belonging, and youth villages and special sites estab- est village. There was no significance -at self-determination—and gradually at- lished for this purpose. tached to higher education or individual tained the answers. As a child, I want- Following Operation Moses from success. Life revolved around the com- ed to understand: How could I be like 1984-1985, a total of 15,000 Ethiopian munity and the family unit, especially everyone else? Why am I different? In Jews moved closer to Addis Ababa – the child-rearing. Each individual knew school and around my neighborhood, center for aliyah activities in Ethiopia his or her place and function in the I was the only girl of Ethiopian origin – between 1988 and 1991. In May 1991, world and did not dispute it. There was and the only black person. Small details 14,000 Ethiopian Jews arrived in Israel

30 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 PNINA AGENYAHU: Ethiopian Aliyah: An Identity-Building Journey

Ethiopian-born Israeli model and winner of Miss Israel 2013, Yityish “Titi” Aynaw visits the National Press Club in Washington. (Photo: Albert Teich) aboard IDF, El Al, and Ethiopian Air- come full circle. Thirty-four years after refugees in a foreign country, and we lines aircraft as part of Operation Solo- my immigration—about half of the State survived. But it was not an accident. We mon. From 1992-1997, the Israeli gov- of Israel’s history—I believe that Ethio- survived because of the kindness, gener- ernment and the Jewish Agency assisted pian olim [immigrants to Israel] have osity, and proactivity of the people, and Ethiopian Jews from the Qwara Prov- managed to bridge the gap between our organizations who helped us. ince to reach the Jewish State. generation and that of our parents. Mov- The story of mass Ethiopian aliyah ing forward, our children will experience ❚❚Absorption Lifeline appeared to close in 2013 when the Jew- the same generational challenge. Since the early 1950s, the Jewish ish Agency sponsored what had been Thirty-four years ago, I was a 3-year- Agency has assisted more than 90,000 considered its final group flight from old girl who crossed a country with a Ethiopians with their aliyah—preparing Ethiopia and closed its Gondar center. young mother for weeks and survived in the future Israelis with several months But in November 2015, the Israeli gov- a refugee camp in Sudan under disgrace- of education in Hebrew, Judaism, and ernment announced its intention to ful conditions for months. Now, I am Israeli culture; arranging for their im- bring a new wave of up to 9,000 Ethio- a mother myself, to children who ben- migration visas; and paying for their pians to the Jewish State by 2020. Imme- efit from a quality education and will not transportation to Israel. diately, the Jewish Agency put into place lack any food at their table. Yet questions Our organization also provides the the infrastructure needed to conduct on being a refugee continue to arise for immigrants’ first home in Israel: up to pre-aliyah services in Gondar and com- me due to the current controversy on Is- two years of simple, but comfortable ac- prehensive absorption services in Israel. rael’s policy toward African migrants and commodations in one of the 10 Absorp- In October 2016, a group of 63 new im- asylum-seekers. I am frustrated when my tion Centers for Ethiopians that are oper- migrants from Ethiopia arrived in Israel non-Ethiopian friends ask me whether I ated by the Jewish Agency. The centers are and were reunited with their families. support or oppose expulsion of illegal mi- dedicated to the specific cultural needs grants, because it is not a simple question of Ethiopian immigrants. Additionally, ❚❚Coming Full Circle that can be answered in an instant. four Jewish Agency absorption centers As an Ethiopian immigrant who now My heart aches for refugees and for olim (immigrants) from around the works for the Jewish Agency, the organi- their plight. It is not lost on me that I, world including from Ethiopia. In 2017, zation that helped make my community’s too, was once in their situation. Ethio- Jewish Agency absorption centers served aliyah dreams into a reality, I have also pian immigrants like myself were once a total of 3,800 Ethiopian immigrants.

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 31 Jewish Agency programming for Ethi- facilitates Hebrew literacy for Ethiopian society will ultimately emerge. The Jew- opian olim touches all facets of their lives. children and their parents by encourag- ish Agency is doing its part to ensure a When immigrants leave their tem- ing reading in Hebrew through story- better life for olim in need at every step porary accommodations in absorption time events and book distribution; “My of the journey, from immigration to ab- centers for their own private housing, Toy Box,” which offers guided, cross- sorption to assimilation. the Jewish Agency gifts them the brand- cultural activities for Ethiopian children It is heartwarming to me that so new kitchen appliances and furniture and their parents that encourage time many young Ethiopian Israelis identify that they used in the center, so that they spent together as a family; a transitions with the reality of today’s African refu- will have basic furnishings in their new course for Ethiopian men and women gees. Even the generation born with the homes. that builds cultural understanding and freedoms enjoyed in the Jewish State Meanwhile, “Yesodot: Educational adaptation skills to help families thrive remembers and understands that their Services for Children of Ethiopian Im- in their new culture; health and men- parents were once refugees. migrants” provides formal and infor- mal educational programs for Ethio- In Israeli society, it is precisely from each ethnic pian children and young adults who live in absorption centers, helping new community’s differences that a more harmonious immigrants from preschool through society will ultimately emerge. 12th grade close educational gaps they confront when acculturating to Israeli schools. In 2017, Yesodot programs tal health services such as dental care, As a former refugee myself, I con- reached 1,200 youths. emotional care for children, and care tinue to appreciate the rights and privi- Yesodot’s services include: prepara- for children with AIDS or other special leges which I have as a citizen of Israel. tion for first grade via tutoring provided needs; and vocational training programs The challenges that I experienced in or- by experienced teachers; “Water Wings,” that prepare Ethiopian immigrants for der to reach this point have made me the a formal after-school program that rein- Israel’s work culture. woman who I am today. forces Hebrew, math, and English skills among children ages 6-14; educational ❚❚Appreciating privilege PNINA AGENYAHU is Director of summer camps for children ages 4-18 There is always room for greater in- Interfaces and Synergy at the Strate- including field trips and other enrich- tegration of immigrant populations such gic, Planning and Content Unit of the ment activities; a bar/bat mitzvah pro- as Ethiopian olim. In Israeli society, it is Jewish Agency for Israel. Previously, gram that engages pre-adolescents in precisely from each ethnic community’s she was the senior shlicha of The Jew- Jewish studies; “My First Library,” which differences that a more harmonious ish Federation of Greater Washington.

Subscribe to FrontlineFrontline DefenseDefense Real-time information and analyis on the security threats facing Israel.

JewishPolicyCenter.org/frontline-defense SIGN UP NOW @DefenseJPC

32 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 Israeli College Connects Globally; Institute Trains Future Leaders by ERIC ROZENMAN

sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- faculty members and administrators Enrollees in general “learn Israeli tanyahu was well-received on his with a proposal to start management management techniques,” the college trip to sub-Saharan Africa two years training there. Finding a “cool” recep- president says. In defense and security, Iago. One reason, Dr. Joseph Shevel tion, he decided to launch such an insti- for example, this is “not how to shoot believes, was the work of the school he tute himself. and bomb,” but rather how to “establish leads, the Galilee International Manage- That was in 1987. Shevel and a uni- national and regional defense networks” ment Institute, also known as the Col- versity colleague, who served the fledg- like one that links several East African lege of the Galilee. ling institute as chancellor, obtained nations, each committing troops to a GIMI is not is not a traditional col- an old agricultural school at Nahalal, ready reaction force with an established lege. The institute draws its students not far from Haifa. A young kibbutznik headquarters. from senior officials and experts in for- named Moshe Dayan had studied there Shevel explains that GIMI “trains eign countries—mostly African at pres- long before. foreign students to be able to go home ent but including European and Asian The institute was associated with and teach others.” It periodically sends lands as well. In 2017, approximately the foreign ministry, Shevel says, “but Israeli specialists to check that local in- 1,300 trainees arrived for intensive, two- not now. That makes us less restricted, struction by its graduates stays on track. week programs in more than 20 fields easier to work.” But the ministry is aware He says that the Sahara Desert and from agricultural, environment and wa- of GIMI’s projects. semi-arid sub-Saharan Sahel “is moving ter; transport and maritime studies; eco- Today the college has a staff of ap- south with global warming.” This affects, nomic development; to strategic studies proximately 70, mostly in administra- among other places, Nigeria’s Kano state, (including national security). tion and management. “The faculty is with 10 million people. The “second wave” Although the majority of train- from all over Israel,” Shevel says, with for big refugee migration headed to Eu- ees came from Africa, 360 hailed from “400 or more on the roster, experts in rope, after those fleeing wars in Syria and China, another 100 from . their fields,” and a core of 30 to 40 when elsewhere, might be displaced farmers. Depending on the course, instruction may be in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Arabic or Russian. This past January, Shevel said most African countries When Netanyahu made his 2016 had at least one institute graduate serving in a African visit, two GIMI graduates were serving in the cabinet of the new Ugan- cabinet post. dan government. Another became Gha- na’s minister of education. A fourth, a rear admiral, worked as policy director teaching at the institute. The annual Noting countries like Germany at naval headquarters in Nigeria. budget totals approximately $5 million. have to divert funds from foreign aid, This past January, Shevel said most Many of the courses are of two-week for example, to refugee expenses, Shevel African countries had at least one insti- duration. Students occasionally come as believes there’s a better solution. Israeli tute graduate serving in a cabinet post. individuals, but most arrive from their agricultural methods, including irriga- In addition, one is a state governor in home countries in groups of 10, 20 or tion and water-recycling know-how and India, others hold senior positions in more. Those who master the concentrat- arid area farming techniques could give Caribbean and Eastern European lands. ed work receive certificates, not diplo- sub-Saharan farmers the possibility of GIMI’s president, who served as mas. But for an offering like a doctorate staying in familiar places rather than a captain in the , in business administration, instruction becoming migrants. had been teaching economics at Haifa spans three years and includes three “When the president of the Peoples’ University when he approached school short stays at the college itself. Republic of China was in Israel, the

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 33 deputy foreign minister visited” the Col- accepted support from the Palestine government’s Development Assistance lege of the Galilee and signed an agree- Liberation Organization. During that Program ultimately failed. From 1951 to ment, now in effect, for 200 Chinese cit- struggle and even after transition to 1973, in 31 non-Arab African countries, zens to be trained there in agricultural black majority rule, many in the ANC that program trained thousands in agri- fields over five years. “That’s the model,” have subscribed to a far-left distortion culture, health care, economics and other Shevel notes, “not sending one special- of “universality.” This places the PLO fields, according to Myths and Facts: A ist” for a period to another country. and other anti-democratic, even terror- Concise Record of the Arab-Israeli Con- GIMI’s students, from Ethiopia, Er- ist movements on the side of “liberation” flict. Then, threatened by Arab oil pro- itrea, Tanzania, the Philippines, Roma- nia and other countries in addition to those mentioned above, have included Israeli agricultural methods ... and arid area farming Muslims. Many programs have enrolled techniques could give sub-Saharan farmers the Palestinian Arab students, and the col- possibility of staying in familiar places rather than lege partnered with al-Quds University when Sari Nuseibeh, recently retired, becoming migrants was president. Shevel and Nuseibeh be- came friends, sometimes traveling to- gether to appear at conferences. and equality while indicting democratic ducing countries with supply cuts and But even in education, joint efforts Israel as a Jewish state with an imagined intimidated by Arab terrorist groups, the sometimes encounter obstacles. A few supremacist particularism. African nations severed ties with Israel. years ago, one Palestinian student at However, Shevel noted that GIMI Shevel assumes GIMI’s work would GIMI happened to be the PA’s governor has been able to work in South Africa’s be able to better survive such external in . A terrorist shot at his home. Cape Town province when the Liberal shocks. In any case, when he looks at his The man “was unhurt, but died soon of a Party, not the ANC, has been in power. students and graduates today and asks, heart attack,” Shevel recalled. He would like to be able to find $3 mil- “who knows where they will be” decades Working with South Africa has lion to $4 million to bring 200 South from now? he has an answer to his own been “difficult,” he acknowledged. African students to the college over the question: “Future national leaders.” The ruling African National Con- next five years. gress Party, when it fought the previous So far, the College of the Galilee ERIC ROZENMAN is a communications white minority apartheid government, seems to have succeeded where the Israeli consultant for the Jewish Policy Center.

34 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 The News Media and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Today by SEAN DURNS

n his 1985 book Double Vision: How million receives a disproportionate level as opposed to a catalogue of facts. The The Press Distorts America’s Views of of coverage thanks, in no small part, to very idea that facts matter has been un- the Middle East, the American-born the safety and freedom that it provides der constant assault in the conflict itself. IIsraeli writer Ze’ev Chafets catalogued the press in an increasingly unsafe re- For example, when asked if there was the ills that plagued U.S. news media cov- gion—and world – that is filled with gov- ever a Jewish Temple on Judaism’s most erage of the Middle East in general, and ernments and groups who menace – and holy site, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel in particular. Chafets, who had sometimes murder – reporters. As Fried- Ahmad Tibbi, an Arab-Israeli Knesset served as the director of Israel’s Govern- man noted in an Aug. 26, 2014 Tablet member, balked. There are but Jewish ment Press Office, noted that “the choices Magazine article, the AP alone had “sig- and Arab narratives, he said, and he was that have shaped the American press’s nificantly more” correspondents cover- only subscribing to the Arab narrative, approach to the Middle East in recent ing Israel than it had in “China, Russia, or which—unlike Muslim religious authori- years have been influenced by a com- India, or in all of the 50 countries of sub- ties in Jerusalem in the 1920s—claims no plex mixture of inexperience, parochial- Saharan Africa combined,” and higher Jewish Temple had ever existed. ism, radical chic, economic self-interest, than the total number of employees in Western media indulges the Pales- U.S. government manipulation, and the all the countries in which the so-called tinian narrative. For example, a Nov. 30, strong-arm news-management tech- “Arab Spring” erupted. This fixation has 2016 Washington Post article about a new niques of the Arab world.” a distorting effect that is complicated by museum on Yasser Arafat in the West More than three decades since Chafets’ book first appeared, Western media coverage of Israel has increas- [There is] a pronounced tendency by the press ingly come under fire from writers, ana- to present the Arab-Israeli conflict as a battle of lysts and organizations that charge the Fourth Estate with an ingrained bias narratives, as opposed to a catalogue of facts. against the Jewish state. And indeed, there is much that the press gets wrong about Israel. In key ways, the media fails a narrative that is widely embraced by Bank (Judea and Samaria) described to provide readers with a full and accu- many in the press. the Palestinian leader as a “revolution- rate depiction of the country. Israel, the thinking goes, is an obsti- ary and guerilla leader…a diplomat and The principle problem is narrative. nate nation that exaggerates—and even peacemaker.” Like all people, journalists are not im- creates—many of the threats that menace The Post presented the longtime head mune from having their own precon- it. Israel could have peace if only it want- of the Fatah movement and the Pales- ceived notions warp their analysis. As ed to. By contrast, the Palestinian Arabs tine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Matti Friedman, a former Associated are seen as a native people oppressed by romantic terms; uncritically repeating Press reporter, noted in a Nov. 30, 2014 a Jewish colonial entity. Accordingly, Pal- the presentation of him as a “liberation” Atlantic Monthly article about media bias estinian acts of terrorism are excused— fighter turned peacemaker whose “new and the Middle East, ”the news tells us even celebrated by some—as “resistance.” path earned him a share of the 1994 Nobel less about Israel than about the people This line of thinking—what Chafets Peace Prize” for signing the Oslo accords. writing the news.” He’s right. It also tells called “radical chic” in the 1980s—is not But Arafat never reformed. Neither us a lot about how the news gets reported. new. But acceptance of it has grown. he, nor the entities that he led before his As both Chafets and Friedman have This has contributed to a pronounced 2004 death, ever changed their long- observed, Israel is the victim of an obses- tendency by the press to present the Ar- term objective: Ending the Jewish na- sive media focus. The country of eight ab-Israeli conflict as a battle of narratives, tion of Israel. He spent the months and

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 35 years after Oslo’s September 1993 White a waste of time and vain endeavors.” At By fixating on Jewish West Bank settle- House lawn signing ceremony repudiat- the beginning of 2017, Hamas found it- ments instead of Palestinian leaders, the ing Oslo’s terms, rejecting U.S. and Is- self increasingly isolated and financially media is able to engage in false equiva- raeli offers for peace and statehood and strained—in part due to pressure from lency; pretending that Jews building supporting terror attacks. the Egyptian government, which under houses is on par with Palestinian Arabs Arafat remained a terrorist until his President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi has been murdering Israelis. final days. And the institutions that he left at war with the Brotherhood—and chose Indeed, the Western press devotes an behind also failed to reform. Yet, media to reword its charter as part of attempt- inordinate amount of coverage to Jewish accounts are insistent on portraying Pales- ing rapprochement with Cairo. Although homes being built in Judea and Samaria, tinian leaders and organizations as some- Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal told a but nonetheless fails to fully detail or accu- thing that they are not. The Washington Gaza audience “we still are in open war” rately report the matter. The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today and with Israel and “Hamas is not chang- Post is representative. In 2017, for exam- ple, the paper ran no less than two-dozen reports relating to settlements. This is a By constantly using the terminology of “moderate” curious fixation considering that a March vs. “hardline” Palestinian leaders, many news 31, 2017 Post dispatch was headlined “Is- outlets engage in false distinctions... rael set to approve first new settlement in 20 years.” Yet, a reading of coverage from The Post’s Jerusalem bureau could mislead others, routinely describe the PLO, Fatah, ing its skin,” outlets like The Indepen- readers into thinking otherwise, convey- the PA and their hierarchy as “moderate” dent, The Guardian, Ha’aretz and others ing the false impression that settlements or “peace partners.” Yet, these entities sup- nonetheless filed reports suggesting that are expanding, as the newspaper has re- port and praise terrorist attacks. Hamas might accept a Jewish state. ported, at a “rapid rate.” The desire to fashion Western-style By constantly using the terminol- However, most of the population political moderates out of anti-Semitic ogy of “moderate” vs. “hardline” Pales- growth is the result of natural increase autocrats is so pronounced that even after tinian leaders, many news outlets engage and not from new arrivals—a fact omit- PA President Mahmoud Abbas exhorted in false distinctions, substituting their ted in most media coverage. Similarly, on August 24, 2017 that he would “con- hopes for careful, accurate reporting. most of the construction that has oc- tinue to pay” terrorists killed, wounded A quick look at official Palestinian me- curred has been in blocs that Israel is or captured in anti-Israeli attacks “until dia—including via easily accessible Eng- expected to keep in any future agree- my last day”— the Palestinian leader and lish-language translations provided by ment. The Washington Post’s editorial his authority were still painted as peace Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) or the board, citing a research project by David partners in numerous subsequent editori- Middle East Media Research Institute Makovsky of the Washington Institute als and commentaries. And when Abbas (MEMRI)—would show a society and for Near East Policy that mapped settle- said that Jews are “really excellent in fak- culture in which anti-Semitic violence is ments electronically, noted in a Septem- ing and counterfeiting history”—denying enshrined. That many major news out- ber 17, 2017 commentary: Jewish history and Israeli claims in the lets fail to use these sources—or indeed, “Of the some 600,000 settlers who land of Israel—at a Dec. 13, 2017 summit often fail to cite Palestinian media at live outside Israel’s internationally rec- of the Organization of Islamic Coopera- all—is itself an indictment. As Chafets ognized borders, just 94,000 are out- tion, outlets like The New York Times, The noted in Double Vision, what Arab lead- side the border-like barrier that Israel Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times ers tell reporters in English is often quite built through the West Bank a decade and others failed to cover his remarks—or different from what they tell their do- ago. Just 20,000 of those moved in since ran a selectively-edited Associated Press mestic audiences in Arabic. The problem 2009, when [Israeli Prime Minister] Ne- dispatch that omitted his anti-semitism. then, is not new, but in an age in which tanyahu returned to office; in a sea of News treatment of Hamas, the U.S.- translations for non-Arabic speaking 2.9 million Palestinians, they are hardly designated terror group that rules the reporters are abundant, it’s both less overwhelming. Last year, 43 percent of Gaza Strip, provides another glaring excusable and illustrative of the media’s the settler population growth was in just example. A Muslim Brotherhood-deriv- bias and laziness. two towns that sit astride the Israeli bor- ative, its charter proclaims: “There is no Another common media narrative der – and that Abbas himself has pro- solution for the Palestinian question ex- is the idea that settlements—not Pales- posed for Israeli annexation.” cept through Jihad. Initiatives, propos- tinian rejectionism and violence—are However, in a January 30, 2018 als and international conferences are all at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict. report entitled “The road to an

36 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 The News Media and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Today The News Media and the Arab-Israeli SEAN DURNS: Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is vanish- Jihad to be next in line to lead a nominal criticism posted on social networks. ing,” The Washington Post’s columnist U.S. ally and aid beneficiary should be The rise of so-called citizen journal- David Ignatius claimed, “settlements newsworthy. But more than a year later, ism presents similar challenges; verifica- may be the hardest problem on nego- not a single major U.S. news outlet has tion is more difficult, agendas can be more tiators’ agendas.” This cognitive disso- noted his ascension. By contrast, Israeli difficult to trace, and the possibility for nance is readily apparent in The Post, politicians are routinely profiled. spreading misinformation and disinfor- whose editorials on settlements have, on The reason for ignoring Palestinian mation is vastly greater. Although major a number of occasions, contradicted the internal developments is simple: Doing outlets, like The New York Times and The paper’s own Jerusalem bureau. otherwise would refute the narrative of Washington Post, remain the chief news The fixation on Jewish homes comes helpless Palestinian Arabs at the mercy aggregators, their influence is steadily at a price paid in news space and reader of an imposing Israel. Instead, many me- eroding under more nimble competition. understanding. dia outlets prefer to use Palestinian fig- The decline of advertising-based Many outlets routinely fail to pro- file Palestinian leaders and decisions The reason for ignoring Palestinian internal they make. The PA has rejected U.S. and Israeli offers for peace in exchange developments is simple: Doing otherwise would for statehood in 2000 at Camp David, refute the narrative of helpless Palestinian Arabs... 2001 at Taba and 2008 after the Annapo- lis conference, among other occasions. However, despite numerous reports in ures as props for their anti-Israel ledes. print media and with it, budget cutbacks 2017 about the state of the “peace pro- But the media is changing. And one that have shuttered foreign bureaus and cess”—some with headlines like The can expect coverage of the Arab-Israeli public editor positions, also has changed Washington Post’s “The last gasp of the conflict to change as well. Legacy media today’s media landscape dramatically. two-state solution”—many major news- has less and less influence. In a dramatic Without public editor positions, outlets papers failed to inform readers about departure from when Chafets’ book lack a direct address for accountabil- this pertinent history. Indeed, shortly first appeared, the narrative is no longer ity. Without foreign bureaus, outlets are after President Donald Trump’s Dec. 6, theirs alone to shape. more reliant on local reporters and wire 2017 announcement that he would be As reporter David Patrikarakos services—for better and for worse. These implementing the 1995 Jerusalem Em- highlighted in his 2016 book, War in developments are particularly problem- bassy Act and moving the U.S. embassy 140 Characters, social media is reshap- atic in a Web-connected environment in to Judaism’s historic center and Israel’s ing not only conflict in the 21st century, which the competition to “break a story” capital, the press was awash in commen- but also how news gets reported and dis- is fiercer, and errors and disinformation taries and reports saying that the move seminated. As Chafets detailed, authori- more easily shared. would hurt peace talks because Pales- tarian regimes in the Middle East and This presents both Israel and others tinian leaders wanted “ elsewhere were previously adept at shap- concerned with fair and accurate media for the capital of a future state.” Yet, the ing stories, either through intimidating coverage of the Middle East with both dispatches omitted that that the Pales- journalists or controlling access to areas, opportunities and difficulties. tinian side was offered—and refused participants and sources that might be Coverage of the Middle East in gen- without submitting a counteroffer—pre- of interest. Although these regimes, and eral, and the Arab-Israeli conflict in par- cisely that by then-Israeli Prime Minis- non-state actors like Hamas or the Is- ticular, is, rapidly changing and more ter in 2008. By repeatedly lamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), have chaotic. Whether these changes will re- omitting relevant information, the me- shown themselves to be efficient at using sult in a move away from the Palestin- dia leaves itself open to charges that it is social media to push their narratives and ian narrative-based reporting that has more interested in propagating narra- propaganda, the narrative is no longer been regrettably embraced by the legacy tives instead of reporting facts. solely theirs to control. media, or whether they’ll reinforce it, Palestinian politics similarly go un- Much of the news about the 2016- changing the conflict into the “virtual derreported. For example, in February 2017 protests in Iran, for instance, has warfare” discussed in Patrikarakos’ 2017 Fatah announced the appointment come from social media users posting book, remains to be seen. of Mahmoud al-Aloul, an unrepentant against regime wishes. And both the PA and convicted terrorist, to be the as dep- and Hamas, to name but two examples, SEAN DURNS is a Senior Research Ana- uty to the octogenarian Abbas. The ap- have been sufficiently concerned that lyst at the Committee for Accuracy in Mid- pointment of a terrorist nicknamed Abu they’ve arrested Palestinian Arabs for dle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 37 A Prism on the Diversity of the Israel Defense Forces by Maj. Gen. GADI SHAMNI, IDF (Ret.)

Editor’s Note: The Israel Defense Forces military service, there is a mission in social role at the national level; the integra- (IDF) not only defends the borders and civilian service. tion of different people, immigrants from people of Israel, it helps integrate new- different societies and cultures, into one comers into Israeli society and provides Bryen: All Israeli officers come from the Israeli culture. It is a practical issue. resources to diverse communities. inFO- ranks of the drafted men and women. CUS editor Shoshana Bryen spoke with Do you ever think about the military Bryen: You formed among the first Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni, IDF (Ret.) former academies or officer training separate Haredi [ultra-religious] units of the Commander of Israel’s Central Command from the drafting process? IDF. How did the IDF integrate Hare- and Defense Attaché in Washington, about dim from Israel into the military? the role of the IDF in today’s Israeli society. Shamni: We have talked about it but con- cluded that the right way for us is the way Shamni: The first Haredi soldiers came Shoshana Bryen: Considering Israel’s we do it. We bring people up from the into the IDF in 1999. When I came to it, population growth in recent decades, ranks and then later in their careers we it was under the Central Command. We does the IDF still play a role as the lead- make similar investment to what is done had a battalion of soldiers, but the bat- ing institution in Israel to create a sense of in U.S. in military academies. We do it talion was very small. The companies national unity? when they are lieutenants. Before that, were not full. The soldiers suffered from when they are platoon leaders, they have a lack of legitimacy when they went back Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni: Israel is con- mainly practical missions; they don’t re- to their homes and their neighborhoods stantly growing - and the force will also ally need to start on big strategic issues. and their society. continue to grow. The IDF is always ex- We decided to boost the understand- amining the best ways to utilize this hu- Bryen: After the initial adjustment, the ing that it was essential for Israeli society man resource, the human quality that is American military is very happy that we to have them in service, not only militar- in them. The goal is to get the maximum ended the draft and created a strictly pro- ily but socially – because the percentage out of the potential of Israeli youth by fessional military with no conscription. of Haredi people and religious people is directing them into military and nation- on the rise in Israeli society. The idea that al service; missions that reflect our – and Shamni: There’s always a debate about those people would not be part of the most their – understanding of the importance of the IDF and the service to the State of Israel as the superior social value. ...we created a unique service model for [Haredi youth], which means that not only will they serve Bryen: Do you have more young people than you can take into the military? in the IDF, but they will also get a civilian, general education that they didn’t get in the Yeshiva... Shamni: I don’t think we have too many. Fitting the people to the mission is more comfortable when you have a lot that. Our conclusion, after years of dealing important national effort in the State of Is- of candidates. It is great for the IDF now with this issue at the tenured command rael was an important concern. – in the past few years new units were level, is that Israeli society still needs the First, we decided to change the bat- established in the IDF and there are new qualities and the commitment of Israeli talion to a full-scale battalion with four needs in technology, intelligence, a lot youth in the IDF, which is still considered companies. We decided to invest money of things. I don’t think we will reach a to be the melting pot of Israeli society. It is to keep at least a percentage of people for point where there are too many young also true that the IDF has additional roles, long-duration service, which means that people. And if there’s no need in the not only the military role. The IDF has a they become professional soldiers. And

38 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 MAJ. GEN. GADI SHAMNI: A Prism on the Diversity of IDF there was a need for that. When they came into the battalion, into the military, they saw something they really liked. They understood that they were defend- ing their country, their homes, their fam- ily. They were totally dedicated. Many of them wanted to stay as professionals. In addition, we created a unique ser- vice model for them, which means that not only will they serve in the IDF, but they will also get a civilian, general educa- tion that they didn’t get in the Yeshiva [re- ligious school] in order to better integrate later into Israeli society. This is much more expensive for the IDF, but I think that you Two Israeli soldiers of Ethiopian heritage participate in a unit commander’s course in 2006. can’t measure the importance of the mis- (Photo: Flickr/IDF) sion by counting chickens. Arabs – let’s say Muslims – in the IDF. the older people, the politicians, are very Bryen: When the Haredi soldiers leave The largest minority serving is the Druze. problematic. They hold them back and the IDF, do they work in the civilian There are 3,500 Druze in the IDF, excel- the trend now is to volunteer to the na- non-religious sector? lent soldiers. The rate of conscription tional service in their own communities. from Druze society is the highest in Israel, Shamni: To be honest, I don’t have a sur- if I’m not mistaken. Everyone goes to the Bryen: That makes sense. vey that follows them after they leave the military. The number of Arab Christians military. But I’m sure that they see the is smaller: About 200 Arab Christians Shamni: It makes sense as a first step, world differently after two years of ser- serve in the IDF; about 1,300 Bedouins but no doubt in the future it will have vice and the studies that they go through. and Muslims; about 100 Circassians. to change – you’re not only supposed to These are not big numbers. The support your own community. If you en- Bryen: How did you convince the rabbis Druze are all over, in all our best units: joy the benefits of the national service, to move people from what they do tradi- pilots, navy SEALs, everything. The rest you should serve the nation. And the na- tionally to do something else? of the minorities are more complicated. tion should tell you where to serve. You But they do serve, we encourage them to are not supposed to choose. You should Shamni: It wasn’t easy. I reached out to volunteer. The Bedouins see it as a place go wherever the nation wants you to go. the chief rabbis in Israel and they sup- to work, a career. There are differences ported it explicitly. And what I heard between the Bedouins who live in the Bryen: How have the Ethiopian soldiers from the rabbis in the schools was that northern part of Israel and the southern done over time? those who are the best Talmud [religious part. The IDF makes an effort to bring studies] students, who really took their them in. They also get special models of Shamni: Ethiopian soldiers are getting studies seriously, would remain and service with education, professional ed- better and better. The number, for ex- study. But there are many who were not ucation, support after they are released ample, of drop-outs among Ethiopian really studying hard – those should con- such as housing, and other things to en- women was about 13 percent dropped tribute to the State of Israel. So, that’s how courage them to serve. out of service in 2014. Not from particu- it started – by picking up those who were I think, and this is something that lar units, but from the IDF as a whole. not best suited to being in the Yeshiva, I don’t have numbers on, but, more and In 2016 it was 7.5 percent. For Ethiopi- who didn’t like what they were doing. We more Arabs are joining the national civil- an men, in 2014 there was 24.4 percent gave them something else. ian service in their communities. That’s dropout rate. In 2016, 14.8 percent. the leadership in a shift right now. They And it is still moving in the right di- Bryen: We read here that there’s an in- say, “Okay, we will serve.” They have a rection. If you take, for example, the per- crease in Christian Arab men joining the problem with us calling it “national ser- centage of Ethiopian soldiers who go to IDF. How do you deal with Arab citizens? vice” because it’s the nation of Israel. It’s officer’s school, it was 15 percent in 2014; politics, it’s pure politics. If you talk to the in 2016 it is 24 percent. Shamni: It’s not easy. There aren’t many youngsters, they speak differently. But They’re moving up in the IDF, as

Israel: Refuge and Renaissance | inFOCUS 39 they move up in Israeli society. That’s order to weigh different levels of quality. with a very, very high levels of motivation. a good way to show that the IDF is the We don’t want to see how much you suc- The challenge is to keep their motivation. crucial phase in integrating into Israeli ceeded in the past; we want to evaluate When they see the real world, sometimes society. That’s where you learn the “Is- your potential for the future. things look different, you know? raeli” language – not Hebrew. It’s not what they saw in the movies Bryen: Are there still areas of the IDF or in the papers or video games. Some- Bryen: “Israeli” is much different than that are off limits for women? times life is grayer, and military life it is Hebrew. Can you talk about any special often boring and routine, and there is a consideration that you give to soldiers Shamni: There are a few things. Like... ac- lot of what appears unnecessary that sol- that are gay or lesbian? tually you know, we have women in tanks, diers have to do. But we have to keep up infantry unit, air force, the , their motivation and keep good soldiers Shamni: We just treat them normally. If intelligence, all over. I can’t think of one. with us through officer schools and be- you need to give somebody special treat- We don’t have Navy Seals. I think that yond. There are a lot of challenges. ment, it means you don’t see them as a most of the tracks are open for women. normal soldier; and that’s not the way we Bryen: Last question. How good is the IDF? feel. We think that they can and they do Bryen: I’m coming to the end of my ques- contribute a lot. And at the end of the day, tions, and here is what I’ve learned. We’ve Shamni: The IDF is an excellent military. that’s what you are looking for. To contrib- looked at separate elements inside Israel: First and most important is that the IDF ute, to serve, to be a good friend to your Haredim, Muslims, Ethiopians, gay and can take the best of everyone in our soci- friends, to be devoted, to be committed. lesbian Israelis, women, and people with ety and implement their quality wherever And if you do, you’re like everybody else. different abilities. What I hear you saying they’re needed. So, the sky is the limit. is that it is the job of the IDF to accom- Second, Israelis are very advanced Bryen: But there are other people who are modate different people, different levels, technologically. We use that in the IDF not like everybody else. There are people who have physical disabilities, or autism, or other emotional disabilities. And some The Druze are all over, in all our best units: pilots, of those people also would like to serve in navy SEALs, everything. the IDF. What do you do with them?

Shamni: The policy of the IDF is that everyone who wants to join the IDF can different skills, different backgrounds. and the military is very flexible. The sol- join – as long as he is not risking his own You take different people from different diers are young, which is an advantage health, or his surroundings. So, if you places with different skills, and you make and disadvantage. Advantage because have disabilities and you want to join, you soldiers out of them. You make everybody they have a lot of energy and they are can join. If you risk your health by join- feel that they’re necessary to the project. willing to do things older people might ing, you can’t join. If you risk the health or not. They do it. They’re determined. On safety of others you cannot join. But oth- Shamni: Yes. The military is a reflection the other hand, it might be dangerous, erwise, yes. And there is one more condi- of Israeli society and you have to take so you have to balance it. tion: you have to be independent. If you into consideration that people are differ- The U.S. military has a great mili- need somebody to always escort you and ent. There is a lot of investment in that tary. But I think we are more flexible support you, that’s usually not accepted. regard. We have to keep studying the – that’s the advantage of being small; characteristics of each new generation our threats and challenges are relatively Bryen: What does Israel do with kids in order to call out and utilize the best known. We know where our battlefields that either fail high school, have drug qualities of our young men and women. are. Not like in the American case. problems, other issues, but still they At the same time, the so-called old And we don’t deploy overseas, want to join the IDF? slogans area still relevant in Israel. “De- thank God; we don’t need to. We defend fending your country, defending the the state of Israel, and that’s enough. Shamni: The IDF doesn’t check grades home land, fighting for your family.” The from high school at all, only the number of contribution to the security of the state Bryen: I think that’s all you can ask is years you studied; ten years, eleven years, is something that is really clear to young that they be best at their mission. On be- twelve years. And the influence of this is people before they come. The majority half of our members and readers, Gen. not crucial when defining the qualities in (there are exceptions) come to the IDF Shamni, thank you.

40 inFOCUS | Spring 2018 An Author with a Mission review by SHOSHANA BRYEN

imon Sebag-Montefiore brings Christians, Muslim conquerors, Crusad- impeccable credentials to the ers, Mamelukes, Ottomans, Europeans monumental task of writing (including Napoleon and the Kaiser), SJerusalem: The Biography. A his- Albanians, or Russians think, although tory Ph.D. from Cambridge, he has been he draws compelling and sometimes hu- a banker and a foreign correspondent re- morous portraits of all of them. porting on, among other events, the fall At the end, Sebag-Montefiore is of the . He is also the great- honest. Across 548 pages of text, the great-nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore, Jewish side of the equation never denies the international financier who was an the Christian or Muslim heritage of Je- extraordinary philanthropist, promoting rusalem. The “Others” not only denied education, industry, business and health the Jews the right to worship or live in services to Jewish communities in the Le- the city or live at all, they denied one an- vant, including in Ottoman Palestine. other. Each conqueror claimed sole oc- Lineage isn’t determinative, how- cupancy – sometimes permitting others ever; mission is. Sebag-Montefiore states to live or pray in the city, but only as a his. “If this book has any mission, I pas- magnanimous gesture, never by right. sionately hope that it might encourage The book thematically splits into each side to recognize and respect the those who want to live in Jerusalem and ancient heritage of the Other (sic).” Any those who want to own it. The first would Jerusalem: The Biography mission other than honesty in the telling be the Jews, who are rarely seen between of the tale is suspect. pages 135 and 391, except as parts of Simon Sebag Montefiore It is also worrisome that the admis- piles of corpses – there are a lot of piles sion of mission doesn’t appear until the of corpses. The second would be every- Weidenfeld & Nicolson Epilogue – where perhaps it was meant one but the Jews – a series of mainly-reli- as an afterthought – but it isn’t, it is fun- gious armies wanting the holy spaces for 2011 damental. I put it here so you can enjoy themselves – and wanting them without the huge, gory, often-repulsive, but fas- interference by other mainly-religious Suleiman promoted the superiority of cinating story of the Holy City with the armies. The point was to have it. And to Islam and diminished the status of the knowledge that this biography serves an throw others out. other two religions with a meticulous interest. Oddly, the mission posits only Suleiman the Magnificent, for ex- care that still guides the city now…. The two sides, while he writes cogently and ample: “His achievements in Jerusalem Jews, on the other hand, mattered little.” fluidly (blood being the most prevalent were so successful that the Old City today It is written so prettily that one fluid) about so many sides that you need belongs more to him than anyone else.” might forget he’s writing about the re- a spread sheet. Roxelana (his wife) “liked to endow char- moval of Jews from their holiest space. Sebag-Montefiore breaks the book itable foundations close to her husband’s In an effort to be even-handed late into chapters based on sequential occu- projects; she commandeered a Mam- in the game, Sebag-Montefiore notes piers, noting that “It is only by chrono- luk palace to establish her foundation… that in the 1980s, “raised hopes…were logical narrative that one avoids the that included a mosque, bakery, fifty-five dashed by the intransigence of both temptation to see the past through the room hostel and soup-kitchen for the sides, the killing of civilians, and the obsessions of the present.” Meaning, no poor. Thus, they made this, the Temple expansion of Jewish settlements in Jeru- doubt, the obsessions of Israelis/Jews Mount and Jerusalem, their own.” salem and the West Bank. In 1981, the and Palestinians – his “each side” and They did not; they just occupied it assassination of Sadat, punishment for “the Other.” He doesn’t seem to care for a time, pushing “the Other” out of the his flight to Jerusalem by fundamental- much what Romans, Middle Eastern way temporarily. “In Jerusalem where ist was an early sign of a new power.”

Global Hotspots | inFOCUS 41 Not for the first time are houses built under a Sanjak Bey or Mutasallim. heritage site like Lourdes or Mecca. by Jews where other people don’t want Yet Jerusalem’s status changed re- “I’d build an airy comfortable prop- those houses equated with assassination, peatedly over the next centuries, erly sewered, brand new city around terror, and torture. In this way, the Arab sometimes becoming an independent the Holy Places.” Herzl later decided and then Palestinian desire for a Juden- district. Ottoman governors ruled that Jerusalem should be shared: rein Judea and Samaria has the same le- with the aid of the qadi (a city judge “We shall extraterritorialize Jerusa- gitimacy as the Jewish desire to live in appointed in Istanbul) and the mufti lem so that it will be long to nobody the ancient Jewish spaces. (the leader appointed by the Grand and everybody, its Holy Places the On the other hand, he acknowledg- Mufti of the empire, the Sheikkh al- joint possession of all Believers.” es what so many won’t. “All the suburbs Islam in Istanbul, who wrote fatwa of Jerusalem outside the walls were new judgements on religious questions) At exactly that moment, Yusulf settlements built between 1860 and 1948 drawn from Jerusalem’s Families. Khalidi of the prominent Jerusalem by Arabs as well as Jews and Europeans. The Pashas of Damascus and Sidon Arab family, told the Chief Rabbi of The Arab areas, such as Sheikh Jarrah, were rivals who sometimes fought France, his friend: are no older than the Jewish ones, and mini-wars for control of Palestine. no more, or less, legitimate.” “God knows, historically it is indeed The other big split in the book is on What is Palestine here? He notes your country” but “the brute force of re- the question of “Palestinian national- that in 1757, “A Bedouin sheikh…carved ality” was that “Palestine is now an in- ism.” Although the back cover calls Jeru- out a northern fiefdom, which he ruled tegral part of the Ottoman Empire and, salem “the capital of two peoples,” there from Acre – the only time, except for what is more serious, it is in habited by is no indication anywhere inside that short lived rebellions, when a native Pal- other than Israelites.” the Arabs – or anyone else – considered estinian Arab ruled an extended part of Palestine a separate governmental en- Palestine.” Aside from the fact that Bed- “While the letter predates the idea tity or Jerusalem belonging to anything ouins often do not consider themselves of a Palestinian nation… (he saw) the other than the occupier of the time. In a Palestinians, it was a tribal holding and necessity to deny the Jewish claim to footnote (really, it deserved more promi- Jerusalem was not the capital. Zion, he foresaw that Jewish return, nence!) Sebag-Montefiore writes: At the cusp of the 20th century, the ancient and legitimate as it was, would positions of Jewish leadership and Arab clash with the ancient and legitimate The powerful Vali (governor) of the leadership are clear: presence of the Arabs.” Vilayet (Province) of Damascus usu- Khalidi was not talking about a Pal- ally ruled Jerusalem…At other times, Herzl dreamed that “if Jerusalem estinian state, but an Arab requirement Jerusalem was controlled by the Vali is ever ours, I’d clear up everything that Arabs, not Jews, rule. of Sidon who ruled from Acre. Jeru- not sacred, tear down the filthy rat- Later: salem was a small district, a Sanjak holes,” preserving the Old City as a

42 inFOCUS | Winter 2017 ❚❚ review by SHOSHANA BRYEN: Ben Gurion believed, like most of his reunited the city, the capital of Israel, never The Epilogue Soft Subversion and PalestinianJON B. PERDUE: Statehood lomatfellow was Zionists also quoted at this time,saying that that a soLula’s- tomore part helpful it again. once To heour le ftArab office. neighbours, thereThe is a lotbook of readinessends in in1967 Western with Euthe- Middlecialist EastJewish freelancing state would was be “transpar-created IsraelLula’s extends infl theuence hand with of peaceArgentina’s and to le allft- unificationrope to recognize of Jerusalem, an independent but Palestinthe Epi-- ent”without and onlyviolence designed and without to gain domisupport- peopleswing president of all faiths, Cristina we guarantee Kirchner full was free key- logueian state.” carries Indeed, on. the And PA next in setthat its shortsights fornating a spot or on displacing the Security the Council. Palestinian domto the to UDIworship. effort. We’ve Argentina not come is home to con to- space,on the theEU, differenceinterested inbetween building unified upon Arabs; rather it would exist alongside querLatin the America’s holy places largest but to Jewish live with commu- others Jerusalemits success asin theLatin capital America of theto convinceState of z Supporting the UDI nity, making it a challenge for the lobby- Israelenough and members most toof also what support came the before UDI. Brazil under Lula became the first to ing effort. But a simultaneous diplomatic emerges gracefully: unilaterally ...Jews...are endorse a Palestinian rarely state seen (in- betweeneffort by Walid pages Muaqqat, 135 a veteran and Pales - z Soft Subversion at Play side Israel’s pre-1967 borders) in Decem- tinian diplomat in the region, convinced It isTh nowe vote one for hour Palestinian before dawn statehood on a at ber 2010,391, which except at the timeas partsundermined of piles the ofArgentine corpses government – there to announceare theday UN in is Jerusalem. largely symbolic The Domeand designed of the U.S. negotiations betweena Israellot of and piles the ofits endorsementcorpses. of a Palestinian state, also toRock create is anopen: international Muslims areimpetus praying. for a Palestinians. He was also responsible in December 2010. boycottThe andWall divestment is always campaignopen: the to Jews pres - for convincing the presidents of Argen- The Washington Post reported in Feb- sureare Israel praying. to accept The untenableChurch of theborders Holy in tinathem. and UruguayHe was sureto endorse the Jewish a Palestinian and inruary harmony.” that this This “was is afollowed strategy byPalestinian a descrip- anySepulchre final agreement. is open: Butthe theChristians passage of state,Arab and working prompted classes Uruguay would tocooper sponsor- tiondiplomats of Dayan repeated at al-Aqsa across where, the “sittingcontinent in theare UDI praying will upend in severaldecades languages.of diplomatic twoate… summits it did innot support occur toof the proposal.Zionists hislast socksyear, takingwith the advantage sheikh ofof thethe Haramregion’s workThe by sun the is risingUnited over States Jerusalem, and Europe its thatTh moste Palestinians’ of these Arabs quiet had campaign no wish in andgrowing the ulema,economic he explainedties to the thatArab Jerusa world- torays forge making an agreement the light that of the first Herodi requires- Uruguayfor the hasbenefits since comeof their under settlement.” greater scru- lemand noweagerness belonged to todemonstrate Israel but theits Waqfinde- recognitionan stones of theIsrael’s Wall right almost to exist, snowy and tiny after Iran’s charge d’affaires, Hojjatollah wouldpendence control from the Israel’s temple powerful Mount.” ally, the might– just actually as Josephus stand adescribed chance ofthem creat - Soltani,In thedenied later thehe makesHolocaust the points:in a public UnitedSebag-Montefiore, States.” The Argentina then, failed endorse- in his ingtwo a sustainablethousand years peace ago deal. – and Th ethen speed speech• Post-1967,at the Uruguay-Sweden “is certainly theCultural first mission.ment, coupled At no with time that in thisof Brazil, bloody started car- at catchingwhich both the the glorious U.S. and gold Israel of adapt the to timeCenter Jews in Montevideo.have been “ableThey to(the worship Nazis) nivala “me of too” odd, cascade, colorful, with and countries violent perlike- counterDome theseof the soRockft subversion that glints tactics back at will freelykilled perhapsthere since a few AD thousand 70.” Jews, but that sonagesChile, a strongand momentous ally of the U.S.events and can headed the determinethe sun. Thewhether divine there esplanade is any chance where for number• “The of millions PLO banned ... is a lie,”Palestinian Soltani toldhis- readerby a right-wing find “each government, side” recognizing quickly anand- peace,Heaven or whetherand Earth misguided meet, where diplomacy, God toriansthose gathered from admittingat the event. there had even respectingnouncing their the endorsementancient heritage of statehood of “the oncemeets again, man will is stilllead into awar. realm beyond been Lulaa Jewish was Templealso the in progenitor Jerusalem of– and the Other.”as well. On the other hand, he’s writ- human cartography. thisfirst orderSummit came of from South Arafat American-Arab himself.” ten aTh fascinatinge Washington biography Post ofarticle a city thatalso JON B. PERDUE is the director of Latin Countries• He mentions (ASPA by Moshe its Portuguese Dayan’s post- and likelyquoted will Nabil never Shaath, be peaceably the Commissioner be shared of SHOSHANAAmerica programs BRYEN at the Fundis forthe Ameriedi-- unificationSpanish initials) note in in 2005, the whereWestern he asWall- exceptInternational under Relationsthe sovereignty for Fatah, of the saying, one torcan Studies,of inFOCUS and is theand author the Seniorof the forth Di-- andsured continues Abbas that with he hiswould message: become “We’ve even side“Our that next isn’t target exclusionary is Western Europe. – the Jews. I think rectorcoming book,of the Th e JewishWar of AllPolicy the People Center..

Chairman: Richard Fox Board of Fellows: The Jewish Richard Baehr, William J. Bennett, Honorary Chairman: Mona Charen, Midge Decter, Policy Center Sheldon B. Kamins David Frum, David Horowitz, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Michael A. Ledeen, Board Vice Chairmen: Michael Medved, David Novak, Marshall J. Breger Daniel Pipes, John Podhoretz, Michael David Epstein Norman Podhoretz, Dennis Prager, Tevi Troy, Ruth Wisse General Counsel: Jeffrey P. Altman

Board of Trustees: Diana Epstein, Cheryl Halpern, Joel Hoppenstein, Eliot Lauer, J. Philip Rosen, Walter Stern

Global Hotspots | inFOCUS 43 Fall 2011 | inFocus: A Palestinian State? 11 50 F Street NW, Suite 100 Washington, DC 20001

❚❚A Final Thought ...

UNRWA:❚❚A Final Thought ... Perpetuating the Conflict

UNRWA is a huge impediment to actionable under- original refugees will one day claim apartments in Tel Aviv, standing in the Arab world – and particularly among Pal- but as one of the largest UN agencies, it has an interest in estinians – that Israel is a legitimate and permanent part of self-perpetuation – which means keeping refugees destitute the Middle East. Making Israel real to people who delude and lying about the “right of return” ever occurring. themselves on that point is key to honest negotiations about Rather than trying to unwind a 67-year-old agency, the the future of a Palestinian state. Trump administration’s policies can render it moot. In 1947-49, a lot of people believed the Arab states First, transfer the U.S. contribution and control of the would erase the nascent State of Israel. In 1950, 711,000 Ar- refugees to the UN High Commission on Refugees [UN- abs registered with UNRWA, the newly created UN orga- HCR] – which has the mission of resettling people in coun- nization designed to imprison them until that happened, tries that will have them. It doesn’t have to be done all at even if it took forever. They didn’t say that. UNRWA’s mis- once, but it will have the effect over time of caring for the sion, however, is to take care of them and their children un- original refugees and organizing their children, grandchil- til their “status is resolved.” dren and great-grandchildren for productive citizenship. Arabs tried to “resolve” Palestinian status by destroy- Second, to underpin the importance of the change, ing Israel. But, international Arab wars in 1948, 1956, 1967, stop granting “refugee” status to the descendants of the 1973, 1982; terror wars (so-called intifadas) in 1987-1993 original refugees – no other population is permitted to and 2000-04; and rocket wars in 2006, 2009, and 2014 hand down both status and stipends that way. (Material have left Israel not only standing, but economically strong, claims are something else.) Palestinians in the West Bank militarily strong, and with increased trade, political, and and Gaza are in the putative State of Palestine – they are foreign aid programs around the world. Even tourism set Palestinians, not refugees, not now, not ever. a record in 2017. Israel isn’t going anywhere and it is lu- And with fair and clever management, future genera- nacy for a UN agency to perpetuate the fraud that 1947 will tions of Palestinians won’t be either. come again. – Shoshana Bryen UNRWA may not believe great-grandchildren of the Editor, inFOCUS