An Evening with Ronit Ben Dor, Director of Public Affairs at the Israel Embassy
An Evening with Ronit Ben Dor, Director of Public Affairs at the Israel Embassy
Report by Barbara Saunders
On Wednesday 14 January, another highly successful evening was organized by the New Shul Committee, on this occasion in collaboration with the South London Israel Forum (SLIF) Our guest speaker, Ronit Ben Dor, led a stimulating question and answer session on the subject of “Israel: Threats, Challenges and Hopes.“ Over one hundred people attended this highly topical event at Sutton Synagogue and felt highly privileged to hear the inside story from the Embassy. This included the scoop that Hamas had just accepted the Franco-Egyptian initiated truce as was later broadcast on Sky News, but you heard it first in Sutton Shul!
Humorously referring to herself as “the warm-up act“ for Ronit Ben Dor, Edwina Currie offered a brief foretaste of her forthcoming appearance on the popular Question Time panel to be held on 22 March at Sutton Shul. She wished to recruit participants in the May Bank Holiday Weekend sponsored bike ride to France which will hopefully raise much needed funds for Nightingale House in South London. Looking very youthful, she revealed that she was 62 years old and had done the ride herself . She encouraged the post holiday audience “to get on your bike” to join in the fun.
Rica Infante, Chair of the New Shul Committee, then introduced Ronit Ben Dor, expressing appreciation for her coming to Sutton, given the enormity of the situation in Israel and Gaza and the huge burden of work at the Embassy and also sending prayers and well wishes to the Israeli Defence Forces. Rica then summarised her impressive credentials as a solicitor advocate who had helped formulate the water plans in the peace agreement with Jordan and been charge d’affaire in the Baltic States. She combined her professional duties with caring for her family of three children.
Ronit began by personalising the dilemma facing Israel by means of reading the following extract from an anonymous 23 year old Israeli student:
“I was brought up in the UK and returned to Israel ten years ago. I served as an officer and am studying government and law. I feel frustrated living in Israel. I am in a dilemma, being politically left wing and supporting a Palestinian State, yet believing that Hamas forced this on Israel. Hamas are committed to destroying Israel.
Since 2001, 7500 rockets have been fired into Israel. In 2005 Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza and we expected the Palestinians to cease attacks in Gaza, but instead Hamas was “elected” and anti- Israeli rocket attacks increased into undisputed Israeli territory. Hamas set up bases in schools and residential areas. There are no winners in war, but when faced with people who do not accept Israel’s right to exist, there is no basis for negotiation.
I believe that any other democratically elected nation would have acted as Israel did. The highest responsibility of a government is to defend its citizens. Our aim is not to gain land. I am not blind to the suffering of the Palestinians. We try to keep casualties to the minimum, targeting Hamas bases. Mistakes are made, but kept to a minimum. Can the same be said of Hamas, who fire rockets from schools and mosques (ie using a human shield) at civilians. Why is the pain of Israelis under attack considered less than for Palestinians? What would you have done if your citizens had been attacked for eight years?”
Ronit then invited questions from the audience.
Question 1. Israel and the Media.
Where was Israel during the last eight years? Why was this not documented, filmed and commentated upon?
Ronit replied that in Britain we have ‘The Gatekeeper’s Problem.’ Editors are the gatekeepers who choose what to let in. They decide to print only one side of the question. Britain is a problematic spot. The influence of the BBC and Sky News goes far beyond the British borders because the English language is a world wide language of communication and also because the UK has clout in the world.
How do we influence editors to show a more balanced picture? We at the Embassy do maintain a critical dialogue, but we have a limited influence on them. We talk to editors and they answer that they have editorial responsibilities and that they choose. The Guardian and The Independent say that they are campaigning newspapers. It is important that more people write to the media, that you flood MPs, MEPs,and newspapers eg. If you care and want to assist us, you could visit a website called Take-a-pen which has a pamphlet of answers and comments about the situation in Gaza. You can copy, paste and send an email or a letter. It’s important because when there is mass pressure from the grass roots, we have a case, because then editors are discriminating against a large part of the population. It’s a joint effort. We’re now using things that we tried to broadcast two or three years ago and now they are being aired. It is an ongoing labour of Sisyphus (ie. It’s an uphill struggle).
Arab Media Watch complained because the Israeli ambassador in the UK has appeared 40 times in a year while the Palestinian ambassador has appeared twice.
Within hours, messages from the Israel Defence Forces and footage in real time can reach a huge number of the population.
We now use Facebook, the main social networking site on the internet, to network all over the globe. If I put something on my Facebook site and click on share, I send it to 500 contacts, who will then forward it to their friends.
Question about the need for Israeli Satellite TV in Arabic.
This is a very sore point. This has been pushed for 15 years and there has been stallling by the Foreign Ministry, we’ve been told there is no budget, that there were pros and cons. We do have to broadcast in Arabic.In the last five years, IranianTV and Al Jazeera have the floor (Editor: there is also Hamas TV). We are still under the gatekeeper’s thumb (ie suffering biased reporting) and we need our own satellite TV.
Question 2.
Question from Stewart Saunders is in 3 parts:
A) As one who lived in Israel for nine years and served whenever and wherever I was asked to and who detests Hamas as much as your anonymous student, how far do you accept the view of an unnamed senior military source, (reported recently in the Jewish Chronicle) that the behaviour of the settlers in the Hebron house episode brought shame on the Jewish people?
B) How far do you accept the now common view that encouraging settlement in the West Bank has in effect corrupted both Israeli society and the Jewish people and that Israel’s single biggest mistake was to colonise the West Bank instead of limiting itself to military occupation?
C) Finally, what are your thoughts on the view that Israel should say to the West Bank settlers, “The gravy train is coming to a halt. Live wherever you want to, but the West Bank isn’t Israel and if you chose to stay there you must take your chances as Diaspora Jews living alongside the other residents of Palestine?”
The general poll in Israel (as opposed to my views, because I can’t comment politically) is that 80-85% of the Jewish Israeli population believe the only solution is the two state solution, which means th dismantling of the settlements in Judea and Samaria (ie the West Bank) It’s hard. People cried when disengagement took place. It is painful to see your brothers and sisters uprooted, but what is the legacy for our children and grandchildren? Yes, we do make mistakes.
Ronit referred to the biblical bonds with the area, such as King Saul and Ramallah or King David and Bethlehem and quoted a Palmach poet who said, ”If I have to give it up to gain a durable peace, I’m prepared to do it. Our fight is for a sustainable and durable peace, not to play the blame game.
Question 3. Wouldn’t a two state solution mean that there would be a State of Israel and a State of Terrorism?
An hour and a half ago, a ceasefire was formulated in general terms. Now we have to go into detail. Hamas is under serious pressure, we’re doing the right thing, so we shouldn’t stop. At first, Hamas refused the Franco- Egyptian initiative but now they agree. We want a durable and sustainable framework, so that Hamas cannot rearm and to allow peace in Israel. Also, you should know that tomorrow (Thursday) the Head of Israel Security will travel to Cairo to hear from Egyptians behind the scenes.
Question 4. Has anyone from Israel been in contact with Obama?
You can’t do that before the inauguration, but ou can a) watch and b) look at who he’s appointing. In a recent talk, Sharanski was asked a similar question and he replied that he was less worried about the next US President than the next Israeli PM.
What is very significant is the Obama appointment of Dennis Ross (long term direct peace negotiator in the They put the onus of rebuilding Gaza on the Arab nations, as did the Bush administration. They also say there is a need to engage with North Korea and Iran, which is a worry.
The onus is on Europe to show that it is a friend to Israel. In the Yom Kippur War, the NATO countries UK, Germany and France wouldn’t let US planes land to refuel. Both the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the Security Council don’t support the only surviving democracy in the Middle East.
Question 5. What about Hizbullah’s rockets and the Israeli defeat in the War in Lebanon in 2006?
Hizbollah is a Shiite (Moslem) state within a state and is infiltrating the government in Lebanon., but the real threat is Iran., which is trying to reassert itself as an empire. Under the influence of Iran, Iraq will become Shiite. Although Hamas is Sunni (Moslem) based, it is being nurtured by Iran. Egypt has the Moslem Brotherhood,the origin of fundamental Islam. Egypt keeps the Rafah border (with Gaza) closed because it is better for Fatah in Gaza. With a Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt, Iran would have a continuum of power with Israel in the middle.
The Gulf States,Saudi Arabia and Jordan are all keeping quiet vis a vis what is happening in Gaza, because they understand better than anyone what is happening. For the last two years, Nasrallah (leader of Hizbollah since the assassination of the previous Hizbollah leader in 1992) doesn’t air anything at public demonstrations, because Israel is perceived as a mad dog that might go beserk, which is a better deterrent.Hizbollah is cautious.
Although missiles were fired,we have reacted to them as a sporadic situation.
I don’t think we failed in 2006.We learned a lot of things that are being implemented now.
Question 6. Two PR questions: What was the true number of the demonstrators at Trafalgar Square?
We know it was similar to the Israel 60th birthday celebrations, averaging seventeen thousand people, which is very impressive.
Should we print the text of speeches made at the demonstration into the Times and the Guardian to give a more complete picture?
The speeches and pictures are going to be on the Embassy website but the link below will take you to the Chief Rabbi’s inspiring speech at the Trafalgar Square Rally.
http://www.icjs-online.org/orig.php?eid=5260&ICJS=5766&article=1770
Ronit referred again to the positive and negative power of modern communications technology. Positive use includes emails, internet eg Facebook and texts on mobile phones eg text LIFE campaign to show that we support the sanctity of life. Negative use eg. On 9 January late Friday afternoon there was an email hoax that attempted to sabotage last Sunday’s Jewish peace demonstration in Trafalgar Square by claiming that it was cancelled.
Question 7. How will you show me that peace will materialise at any time? My belief is that it will take three generations. I think it’s ironic that Israel is willing to deal with Fatah. How do you think Israel would change if Hamas/ Hizbollah took over the West Bank?
Palestinians are the neighbours from hell, thrown out from Kuwait and Jordan.
What’s the promise of peace in my time? We have to manage a crisis before we can manage a solution. The Head of Security (Shabach) said it. We have to brace ourselves to sustain an ongoing conflict before a peaceful solution will come.
After being in the UK for two years, I am not in the inner circle. We also discuss the participation of Syria in peace, to take it out of the “Axis of Evil” As Palestine becomes more secular and moderate, it will become possible to reach a sustainable situation. Too many balls are now in the air, because of the changing situation in Gaza. Changes in Iran also changes the rules. Maybe there will be a decade of sustaining the crisis. A lot of lay people say it is better to divide from the Palestinians, even unilaterally, although preferably negotiated and each will go a separate way and create a basis for legitimacy to act. It is possible Hamas will take over the West Bank.
The West Bank is promising, because it’s grown approximately 7% in the last year, admittedly that is growth from a low base. Hamas is losing the street (ie grassroot support) At Jerusalem HQ we receive emails from Gazans saying keep doing what you’re doing.
Ronit stresses there are no good guys and bad guys - again the dilemma arises when she considers an apocalyptic-like struggle between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness that Israel may have to face.
Demographics:
Palestinians need to be integrated into Israel with equal rights and opportunities, as was stated in Israel’s Declaration of Independence.Radicals need to be dealt with.
Question 8. What do you think of the Jewish Community in the UK? What is your personal opinion?
Personal opinion? No way!
The UK Jewish Community should be proud. Government and the Foreign Office read the Jewish Chronicle because the quarter of a million Jews here are good citizens.and need to be listened to. Forty years ago Britain wasn’t an immigrant society like USA and Israel, where people have to shout to be heard.
There is a dichotomy because there is a body of people who want to say something, while the current institutions are lagging behind. The leaders of the institutions are feeling the pressure from the grassroots and this will create an evolution within the current systems.
Harness Facebook as a tool and connect with younger people. Things are changing already.
Rica then thanked Ronit Ben Dor for her informative talk, quoting the Israeli President, Shimon Peres who said that “Far from there being no light at the end of the Middle East tunnel, there is light, the problem is there is no tunnel!”
Rica also thanked everyone who helped with the smooth running of the evening, from the dedicated security guards outside from the CST to Melanie Gold who organized another tasty Kiddush in the hall where everyone could socialise. Prof. Stuart Stanton, Chair of SLIF also gave a vote of thanks.
Everyone agreed that we listened to an intelligent, informative and frank speaker. Last but not least, we are all immensely grateful to Rica and the New Shul Committee for improving our connection to the wider Jewish world with this excellent series of initiatives. Shekoach!