{"id":32390,"date":"2019-04-19T03:58:07","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T10:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=32390"},"modified":"2019-04-17T19:36:01","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T02:36:01","slug":"friendly-below-the-radar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/04\/19\/friendly-below-the-radar\/","title":{"rendered":"Friendly below the radar"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the JNF Negev Gala April 14, left to right: comedian Elon Gold, JNF Pacific Region president Bernice Carmeli, Ambassador Ron Prosor, JNF Pacific Region executive director Ilan Pilo and JNF Canada chief executive officer Lance Davis. (photo from JNF Pacifoc Region)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The diplomatic cold shoulder Israel has received from African, Asian and Arab countries has been thawing in recent years, and a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations says the situation is even more encouraging under the radar screen.<\/p>\n

Ambassador Ron Prosor, who was the Jewish state\u2019s representative at the world body from 2011 to 2015, spoke at the Jewish National Fund of Canada\u2019s Negev Gala Sunday night.<\/p>\n

The UN General Assembly is a den of hypocrisy, Prosor said, citing the presence of the most oppressive countries on committees dealing with human rights. The UN Human Rights Council has been dominated by states with the world\u2019s worst human rights records. Moreover, the council, which is supposed to be concerned with human rights abuses all over the world, has a specific article that singles out only one country for routine, ritual denunciation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurprise, surprise \u2013 Israel,\u201d Prosor said. \u201cThe structural and institutional bias against Israel is unbelievable. There is stuff that I can\u2019t even invent. The Saudis chairing the conference on the status of women. The Iranians \u2026 they\u2019re deputy chairs on nonproliferation and arms control.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is amazing is not the bad guys,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe bad guys are easy to explain. What is really difficult to explain is the so-called like-minded countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

European nations and some of the other democracies that make up a minority of the countries at the General Assembly routinely side with despotic regimes against Israel. In such a situation, small victories count heavily. Prosor took heart when countries opted to abstain from votes rather than side against Israel.<\/p>\n

He shared an anecdote about Pablo, the ambassador of Panama, an apparent reference to Pablo Antonio Thalassin\u00f3s.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Pablo, are you with us on this vote? Are you going to vote for us?\u2019\u201d Prosor recounts asking. \u201c\u2018No. How can I vote? The Arabs are threatening me. What do we do?\u2019 I look at Pablo. He looks at me. I say, \u2018Pablo, I feel you\u2019re beginning to catch the flu.\u2019\u201d In the story, the Panamanian begins to cough.<\/p>\n

Prosor shared stories of similar conversations with other ambassadors, convincing them to abstain or not show up for votes, and even making him their proxy vote in these latter instances.<\/p>\n

While a great many votes relating to Israel are still deeply lopsided, he said, ambassadors like him have helped some others understand that abstaining is better than a no vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States of America moves the embassy to Jerusalem. The Europeans take the Americans to the General Assembly,\u201d Prosor said. \u201cOne hundred and thirty-nine countries vote against, 32 countries vote for and 21 countries have huge navigation problems finding the General Assembly. Huge navigation problems. Not coincidental.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, Israel is not the isolated pariah it appears, he contended.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn essence, Israel talks with everyone,\u201d Prosor told the audience at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue. \u201cThe only ones we do not talk to, or I didn\u2019t talk to, are the Syrian ambassador and the Iranian ambassador. We talk to countries that you guys would be amazed. First of all, most of the Arab countries, countries that we don\u2019t have diplomatic ties with. As the Germans would say, we don\u2019t have to kiss each other on the main road.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, Prosor said, India\u2019s relationship with Israel has grown very warm in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ambassador of India loves Israel,\u201d he noted. \u201cIndia votes against Israel in every committee and every subcommittee. When we hit the atomic reactor in Syria, the ambassador came to me, \u2018Ron, amazing work. It\u2019s good that you showed them.\u2019 Then he goes over to the Security Council [and says], \u2018We absolutely condemn Israel.\u2026\u2019 So, there is a difference between relations and voting patterns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relations between Israel and the Sunni Arab world are changing dramatically, he said, due to shared concerns over the Shiite theocracy in Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you that what you see happening now in the Arab world, the Sunni world, is something that has been prepared for many years,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat you see now is not because the Sunni world \u2013 the Saudis and the others \u2013 really give a toss about the Palestinians. They fear that the rope is tightening around their necks because of Iran and they have decided they have coinciding interests with Israel. I don\u2019t care why \u2013 this is an amazing opportunity for us to coordinate and cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosor remains defiant despite the pillorying his country continues to receive at the world body.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have nothing to be ashamed of. They have [things] to be ashamed of,\u201d he said of Israel\u2019s critics. \u201cPolitical structures, attitude toward women, gays \u2026 we have nothing to be ashamed of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the 193 countries at the UN, he noted, only 87 are democracies. Twenty-two are members of the Arab League, 56 are part of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and 126 countries are part of the so-called nonaligned group. By contrast, Israel is the only country at the UN that is not a part of any regional grouping. This means Israel cannot sit on any committees or subcommittee of the body.<\/p>\n

In such a context, he said, humour and sarcasm go a long way. Elon Gold, a comedian who followed Prosor on the bimah Sunday, remarked that the ambassador was funnier than he was. Prosor shared stories of what seem like diplomatic pranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are six [official] languages at the United Nations,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of them is Arabic. I had, on my team, Arab speakers. I decided to tell them that they have to speak and respond in the different committees in Arabic. Suddenly, someone presses the microphone and, in Arabic, bashes the Arabs. Arabs don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening. Europeans are surprised. They don\u2019t know where it\u2019s coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, the ambassador said, things that are not clearly visible bode well for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the radar screen, there is huge support for Israel,\u201d he said. But, he warned of evolving tactics by Israel\u2019s enemies to weaken it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe battle that we are in may be the toughest battle that we\u2019ve been in since the beginning of the state of Israel,\u201d he said. \u201cThey tried to take us out with military means and that didn\u2019t work out. They tried economic boycotts. Today, they are trying to put a wedge between Israel and the Jewish communities abroad, going after the mutual values that we all respect, that we all live with. It\u2019s lies, half-truths, Chinese torture \u2013 drop, drop, drop \u2013 and we have to be out there and call it and fight it and not look away. We have to confront it and work together.<\/p>\n

\u201cInside the United Nations, I saw flags of 193 countries,\u201d he concluded. \u201cI saw 15 flags with a crescent on them, 25 flags with a cross on them but only one flag with the Magen David, and we should all work, every day, to make sure that this flag flies strong, high and proud in the family of nations where it belongs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Funds from the Jewish National Fund of Canada\u2019s Negev Gala will support an animal-assisted therapy centre in the city of Sderot. (photo from hanof.kkl.org.il<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to comedian Gold (see story, jewishindependent.ca\/jnf-gala-features-comic-gold<\/a>), the evening featured a few speakers, including Sanford Cohen paying tribute to the philanthropic work of honourary event chairs Bob Markin and Ralph Markin at a gala dinner before the main program, and JNF Pacific Region president Bernice Carmeli offering remarks at the dinner and during the program. Schara Tzedeck\u2019s Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt spoke about humour in Jewish theology. Actor and writer Josh Epstein emceed. Shannon Gorski chaired the event and Shirley Hirsch was convenor. Ilan Pilo, Jerusalem emissary and executive director of JNF Pacific Region, recognized past president David Goldman.<\/p>\n

Funds from the event will support an animal-assisted therapy centre in the city of Sderot, where children and adults live with post-traumatic stress disorder due to years of rocket and mortar attacks from nearby Gaza. The project was described to the audience by Lance Davis, chief executive director of Jewish National Fund of Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the JNF Negev Gala April 14, left to right: comedian Elon Gold, JNF Pacific Region president Bernice Carmeli, Ambassador Ron Prosor, JNF Pacific Region executive director Ilan Pilo and JNF Canada chief executive officer Lance Davis. (photo from JNF Pacifoc Region) The diplomatic cold shoulder Israel has received from African, Asian and Arab countries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8805,59,60,8806,2827,228],"class_list":["post-32390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-elon-gold","tag-jewish-national-fund","tag-jnf","tag-negev-gala","tag-ron-prosor","tag-united-nations"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}