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An Israeli envoy looks back on 5 tumultuous and gratifying years in New York
(New York Jewish Week) — Within the Israeli foreign service, the Consulate General of Israel in New York is often described as both the friendliest and the most consequential posting for an Israeli diplomat. As I conclude my tenure here, I am struck by just how accurate, yet limited, that description is. My service here, over the past five years, has turned out to be the most meaningful relationship a diplomat could possibly have with a local community. The feeling that resonates, repeatedly, is that we are a family. We have a shared history and a shared fate. We are working on a shared future and it is our duty to continue forging these important bonds.
Even before I arrived, I knew tackling record-high antisemitism was already at the top of our agenda. Nothing could have prepared me for that first October, mere months into my term, when Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue was stormed by an armed perpetrator. After what turned out to be the most lethal antisemitic attack in American history, many were reminded that Jew-hatred remains a murderous cancer.
American Jews were shaken by a torrent of attacks. After Pittsburgh came Jersey City, when four people died in an attack at a kosher store, then Monsey, when five Jews were stabbed by an intruder at a Hanukkah party. Then right here in the streets of New York, in May 2021, Jews were violently assaulted ostensibly because of a conflict that was taking place thousands of miles away in Israel. Antisemitic hate became a daily physical, verbal and online occurrence.
As representatives of the State of Israel to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Delaware, my colleagues and I expressed Israel’s unwavering and continuing support, especially in the darkest of hours. As the homeland of the Jewish people, reborn out of the ashes of the Holocaust, Israel has a historic and moral responsibility to stand by the Jewish people everywhere, especially in times of need. Our words quickly turned into actions following these tragedies. Scores of Israeli private citizens flew to Pittsburgh and other sites of tragic antisemitic attacks, to provide different types of support and begin the healing process. The Israel Trauma Coalition sent therapists and Dream Doctors sent medical clowns. These professionals came not because they were instructed, but simply because they cared and shared in the commitment of Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh, all of Israel are responsible for each other. This commitment stretches the world over, from Pittsburgh to Kyiv to Addis Ababa. Jews come to each other’s aid because of a deep-rooted sense of commitment and peoplehood. One might even say it’s an instinctive pull.
That’s not to say it’s always easy to help each other, or even possible. A dramatic rupture was, of course, the once-in-a-century COVID-19 pandemic that forced Israel, the eternal home and refuge of the Jewish people, to shut itself off from the world. For the first time in history, the pandemic did not allow Jews to enter Israel freely. Those who wanted, and needed, to come home had to acquire special permission to travel. We all acutely remember this period as heartbreaking. It was a blow to our central role as connectors of families and communities to Israel. Jews from across the world were separated, and although they have since been reunited, the wounds inflicted by this experience will take a long time to heal. Nevertheless, the innumerable messages we received from American Jews trying so diligently to travel to Israel demonstrated to me how central our homeland was in our collective Jewish identity. It became clear that these actions were unifiers of our people on a grand scale.
Unfortunately, at times, this value of a cross-continental Jewish family has come under threat due less to external hazards than to internal discord. Like every family, ours is no stranger to challenges, disagreements, arguments and complexities. We live in a period defined by polarization. A period in which people do not celebrate their differences, but rather let those differences drive them apart. We willingly live in echo chambers, communicating only with people who think like us, instead of engaging in a dialogue with those who think differently. We do not talk “to” one another, but talk “at” one another.
While we may vehemently disagree on certain positions or policies, it is of the utmost importance to engage, rather than to disengage. It is important for us to stay active and bring others into the conversation and into the relationship. It is our shared responsibility to emphasize the importance of this relationship, to educate our younger generation about being engaged, to maintain Israel as a central part of our Jewish identity. It is further important for Israelis to share in this relationship, and know that they are part of a shared peoplehood. Through it all, we are one family. The willingness of leaders in the American Jewish community to shoulder this burden with us, and to speak candidly about sensitive issues, is a tribute to their dedication to our family and its long-term cohesion.
It is during the most challenging times when I think it is most important to remember what binds Am Yisrael together. We are a family whose unity transcends languages, borders and politics. As we work together to shape our shared destiny, we do best by remembering our commonalities while engaging with each other and discussing our polarities. Shying away or staying silent is tempting, but damaging. Unfortunately, engagement is often only appreciated in hindsight, but families never grew stronger through acquiescence. Our Israel-diaspora relationship rests on substantive conversations and passionate involvement of Jews from both sides of the Atlantic.
I have lived, worked and davened (prayed) among you in the United States for the past five years. I have forged incredible friendships with the entire political and denominational spectra of your Jewish communities. These friendships will no doubt last a lifetime. I am leaving this position feeling more Jewish than ever, with a profound appreciation for the diversity, dynamism and resilience of American Jewry.
Thank you for this experience. Thank you for opening your arms to me, my wife and my children and making us feel welcomed, accepted and at home. It has been the honor of my life to serve this community as an Israeli diplomat. It has been deeply gratifying to serve my country, arm-in-arm with my American Jewish brothers and sisters, in building and strengthening this special relationship. Together, as one family, we safeguard our shared history. Now, we must double down on our work toward our shared future.
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The post An Israeli envoy looks back on 5 tumultuous and gratifying years in New York appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
The post Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
The post Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
The post Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.