On Wednesday 17th June I sat down, virtually, with Ambassador Mark Regev to put the country’s questions to him. What I didn’t know at the time was that three hours later he was to announce that his term of duty had come to an end and he was leaving London that week.
Since the beginning of lockdown JSCN has convened a weekly meeting of Leaders from small Jewish communities from Aberdeen to Exeter and from Belfast to Ramsgate. Each week Zoom has enabled us to bring in guests from far and wide.
Unsurprisingly, top of the list was the topic of “annexation“. The first question had to be ‘Is the word “annexation“ the right word to use?’. Ambassador Regev was quite clear, Israel did not use the word “annexation“, rather it was the “extension of sovereignty“, referring to the part of the American peace plan for establishing the Palestinian state on the West Bank, but retaining parts of the Jordan Valley for Israel’s security. Some questioners asked why Israel had not done this immediately after the 6-Day War? Also asked was, ‘Isn’t Israel contravening the Geneva Convention with this plan?’ The questions came from many perspectives. Some severely critical of the idea of ‘annexation’, others thought it didn’t go far enough, soon enough.
But not all the questions were as controversial. Our youngest questioner, David, 16, from Stoke-on-Trent, wanted to know more about Israel’s domestic outlook. How was Israel going to cope with population growth? Was there a future for the Kibbutz movement? How did the large immigrations from places like Russia and Ethiopia affect the culture of Israel? The Ambassador reported that change was inevitable but that Israel has the capacity for all of these.
I closed with questions about Israel’s future and what its most important challenge might be. “There are two reasons to be optimistic,” Mark Regev said. The aggression of Iran in the region has created new friendships between Israel and many Arab countries, making the outlook for macro-politics look good “and In terms of economics, what we do in Israel seems to be what the 21st-century is all about”.
He concluded by saying, “The biggest challenge for Israel in the coming years is the countries who we don’t yet talk to. That is, knowing to deal with the threats, but yet being able to recognise the opportunities. You don’t do yourself a favour by ignoring a threat, but you also don’t do yourself a favour by ignoring where they exist.”
The full 65-minute interview is available to view on the JSCN YouTube channel.