Acting swiftly to put an end to the controversy surrounding the recall of Yitzhak Ben-Gad as Israeli consul general in Chicago, the Foreign Ministry has appointed one of its most respected middle-ranking diplomats to replace Ben-Gad.
Officials in Jerusalem indicated that the prompt appointment of Arthur Avnon is designed to put an end to unrest fomented both in Chicago and here over Ben-Gad’s recent recall.
Demonstrations have been held on his behalf in both countries, organized by groups who claim an anti-Sephardic bias in the decision to replace Ben-Gad, who was born in Libya.
The Chicago Rabbinical Council and the Chicago region of the Zionist Organization of America also registered their protest of the move with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
Ben-Gad, who was responsible for most of the Midwest, has so far been the only Israeli diplomat in this category recalled since the Rabin government took control last month. A member of the Likud, Ben-Gad was appointed last year to a three-year term by then-Foreign Minister David Levy.
He told the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle in an interview that he views the recall by Peres “as a political rather than professional decision.”
But in Israel, the daily Ha’aretz reported that Ben-Gad was recalled because of Foreign Ministry criticism of his performance.
Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin, speaking to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, warned that if the “pro-Ben-Gad campaign” took on “ethnic overtones” he would have no option but to published the “very serious findings” of an internal Foreign Ministry investigative committee that had been asked to examine complaints against Ben-Gad’s performance.
His comment came after news reports that the Association of Libyan Immigrants in Jerusalem was planning to protest the termination of Ben-Gad’s stint after 13 months at the post.
COMPLAINTS FROM LOCAL COMMUNITY
Beilin refused to detail the findings of the investigation. He said complaints about Ben-Gad had been received from “prominent Jewish sources in Chicago” and from “sources close to the diplomatic corps” long before the present government took power.
Beilin faulted Levy for failing to take the action which, Beilin said, was the natural outgrowth of the investigation. When Peres took over, the top echelon of the Foreign Ministry asked him to remove Ben-Gad, according to Beilin.
Critics of the Foreign Ministry’s move praised Ben-Gad’s contributions to the promotion of greater understanding of Israel in the Midwest. In his letter to Peres, Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, wrote: “Ben-Gad has been a tireless consul general.
“Day and night he has made himself available to speak before groups, appear on radio and television, to present, what we felt, was a very positive and valuable voice on behalf of the State of Israel,” Lefkowitz wrote.
But at the same time, others in the organized Jewish community viewed the protest against Ben-Gad’s recall as an expression of disgruntlement with the results of the June elections that brought Israel’s Labor Party to power and said the criticism lacked broad-based communal support.
The new appointee, Avnon, was originally named information counselor at the Washington embassy before his reassignment to Chicago. He has extensive U.S. experience, having served previously as consul in Houston and consul general in Boston.
The appointment of Avnon brought an expression of approval from Mordecai Lee, executive director of the Milwaukee Jewish Council, who said he met the consul general-designate at a meeting earlier this year of the National Jewish Community Advisory Council and was “very impressed with him and with his priorities.”
Said Lee: “I’m delighted Avnon has been assigned to the Midwest and I think he’ll fit in very well.”
Barry Morrison, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Chicago office, said: “We have consistently cooperated with the representatives of Israel. I have every reason to think we will have a productive and mutually satisfactory relationship” with the new consul general.
Similar sentiments regarding Israel’s diplomatic appointments were expressed earlier by the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Chicago, Michael Kotzin, who told the Chicago Sun-Times that his organization “always cooperates with the diplomats appointed by Israel in the belief that this policy is in Israel’s best interest.”
(JTA staff writer Malka Rabinowitz in New York contributed to this report).
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
