Foreign Ministry Official Seeking Reassessment of Israel-diaspora Ties

The time is ripe to reassess the old, stereotypical formulas that have characterized the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora, asserts the new head of the world Jewry division of the Foreign Ministry.

Haim Divon, who was Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia from 1991 to 1993, was tapped last September to take the Foreign Ministry job. He replaced Yehudi Kinar, who is now serving as the consul general in San Francisco.

Divon, who has served in diplomatic posts in Sri Lanka, India and Canada, said the division has been restructured and charged with a more “tightly defined agenda.”

And that, he said, signals that the matter of world Jewry will be taken more seriously by the Foreign Ministry.

He spoke of a “new chapter” in the division and of the “fresh outlook” of Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Deputy Minister Yossi Beilin and Director General Uri Savir.

“Each of them realizes it’s high time to give proper attention to the Diaspora,” he said.

Divon, who reports directly to Savir, said he has had “more meetings in the last four months” on the Diaspora with Savir, Peres and Beilin “than there were (in the ministry) in the last four years.”

American Jewish leaders, both inside and outside Israel, have praise for Divon’s predecessor, Kinar. But they say Divon’s access and high diplomatic status lend new weight and prestige to the issue.

They also say that despite little background in Diaspora Jewish affairs, he is a quick study and serious about his new post.

Divon’s mandate is broader than that of his predecessor and its profile has been raised, said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“I am very impressed,” said David Clayman, Israel director of the American Jewish Congress. “He’s a high-powered diplomat who realizes what he doesn’t know and he’s learning it.”

Divon said he plans to set up regular meetings with Clayman and the other local representatives of Diaspora Jewish organizations.

The peace process has begun to free Israelis to stop a nearly exclusive focus on security issues and start a little “soul-searching,” said Divon.

That soul-searching includes a serious re-examination of the relationship to Diaspora Jewry, which is changing and grappling with new and serious issues of its own, he said.

“In Israel, the whole concept of Diaspora Jewry is a very distorted one,” Divon remarked. In the 1950s, the Diaspora meant “food parcels,” and then later it meant “dedicating forests or buildings,” and “A memorial plaque.”

Even to professionals in the field, the role of Diaspora Jews was reduced to “a political lobby or a schnorrer,” he said.

“It’s not our fault,” he added. “No one taught us. Jewish history lessons ended after the Second World War.”

At the same time, for many Diaspora Jews who never visit, Israel is reduced to “what they see on television about the intifada,” Divon said, referring to the Palestinian uprising.

And those who do come under the auspices of a typical United Jewish Appeal mission get exposed to what Divon called an “over-saccharined package” of a mythical country.

“It’s artificial,” he said. “Then they go back and dream about making aliyah, and when they come, they get disappointed. They go to City Hall and get the shock of their lives” over the bureaucracy and hardships of daily life in Israel.

“They need to get a more balanced picture,” said Divon. The biggest achievement of Israelis is their ability to maintain “their sanity and their democratic system” in the face of enormous pressures, including military service and a high cost of living.

On both ends, Divon stressed, “there must be much more sincere dialogue, not just an effort at the top to solve world Jewish affairs.”

The Foreign Ministry’s newly intensified interest was reflected in the recent establishment by Peres of a committee slated to look at relations with the Diaspora, to be chaired by Uri Gordon, head of the immigration and absorption department of the Jewish Agency.

But several sources say the effort ran aground when other Jewish Agency leaders protested that the ministry was stepping on their turf.

The sources say those at the agency were hypersensitive after Beilin attacked it as anachronistic.

Divon, the diplomat, said he worked with the agency on the rescue of Ethiopian Jews, “and they did a tremendous job.”

“But we feel we have our (diplomatic) missions and they give us an opportunity to reach out to Jewish communities in an unprecedented manner. We’re not trying to replace any establishment, but we think we can add” to others, he said.

An ambassador or a consul general is the highest Israeli representative in a country, said Divon, “a symbol that can be used to stimulate new thinking.”

Divon envisions these representatives getting involved in the discussions now absorbing Jewish communities on Jewish identity and continuity, on intermarriage and on assimilation.

“If we are a Jewish state, then these are also problems of Israel, and we have to be concerned,” he said.

He would also like to see Israeli mission heads involved in the discussion of UJA allocation of funds.

“(We hear) it is more and more difficult to support Jewish education, and we feel that when Israel is suddenly stronger it’s more important to share these funds with local needs,” said Divon. The ministry wants to change the formula, he said, “so Israel is not just on the receiving end” but looks at “what Israel can contribute.”

For now, one of Divon’s main tasks is to monitor Diaspora reaction to the peace process and to try to keep Jews abroad informed about what is going on.

He said he and his bosses do not expect uniformity on the issue, but do expect support in the final crunch. “We don’t want robots, we want debate,” he said. “That reflects a degree of involvement.”

In the meantime, he wants the Jewish world to put the Israel-Palestine Liberation Organization agreement in context and recognize that for Israel far broader changes have already occurred. He cited Israel’s improved international posture as well as new economic deals that are the direct fruit of the changing diplomatic climate.

“Don’t just judge what’s happening (around) the current stumbling block” he said. “If the agreement falls apart, it won’t (take away) the (other) achievements.”

In any case, “to stand with a stopwatch is ridiculous. We need a year” to gauge the impact of the current flurry of events, he said.