Since early October, almost on the daily basis Israel has seen attacks against its citizens, where criminals use simple tools: knives, axes, screwdrivers, and other sharp objects. Most of the assaults are committed by Arabs. The attacks grow in number and extend geographically, which prompted observers to dub the events an “intifada of knives,” on analogy with the first “rock-throwing intifada,” when rebellious Palestinians threw rocks at their opponents, and the “suicide terrorism intifada,” when in the 1990s they began to extensively employ suicide bombers. So, what caused a new wave of violence in Israel, and how does the country fight the new form of Arab terrorism? These were the topics of an exclusive interview, given to The Day by Eli Belotserkovsky, ambassador of Israel to Ukraine, who also shared about some new tendencies in the mutual relations between our countries.
“OUR AIM IS TO PRESENT FAIR INFORMATION ABOUT THE EVENTS”
We cannot say with certainty what exactly has caused the situation. Israel allegedly changed the status quo on the Temple Mount, a major sacred site for Jews and Christians, and third (after Mecca and Medina) sacred site for Muslims.
“Now the site of Al-Aqsa Mosque, where the temple used to stand, is administered by a Waqf (an Islamic trust). And only Muslims have the right to pray on the Temple Mount. The believers of other religions may only visit the site as tourists. At times, when riots burst out, certain limitations are imposed.
“During this past year the Palestinian leaders, who threw away the idea of negotiations for a real peace deal with Israel, launched an attack on Israel in international organizations. Their most recent attempt at UNESCO is an absurd claim that the Wailing Wall is an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and should thus be considered as a Muslim shrine. Unfortunately, all this campaign and claims about Israel changing the status of the Temple Mount, preventing Muslims from praying there, also rouse assaults on Israelis. But these are sheer lies, there has been no change in the status of the shrine. Sadly, not only did the Palestinian leaders omit to try to suppress instigations to assault Israelis, but they also made use of it for their political ends.”
On numerous websites and in social networks one can come across an abundance of videos teaching Palestinians to stab Israelis to death with a knife. Why don’t Israeli authorities block the sites fomenting hate and violence?
“It is impossible to block anything because Israel is a democracy. You cannot ban Facebook, Twitter, or any other media here. That is why we strive to use social networks to spread information on what is really going on around. We are backed by a variety of organizations, both Jewish and international. I think that our main goal is to provide truthful information, even if this information is not always to our advantage. Israel agreed to set cameras on the Temple Mount, so that everyone could see what is actually going on there. We are interested in this, as it will help disproof the rumors, propaganda, and lies.
“As to fomenting hatred, it is virtually out of control. I think that a very important role here should belong to the Palestinian leaders self. If they unambiguously speak against such armed assaults, against terror, it will play a very important role.”
“WE NEED A SUCCESSOR TO RABIN NOT ONLY IN ISRAEL, BUT ALSO ON THE PALESTINIAN SIDE”
And so far, you cannot see this?
“Unfortunately, no. Conversely, we see the exploitation of this atmosphere to people’s personal ends. In this way, Abbas is trying to regain leadership. And that claims many Israeli lives, but most of all, many Arab lives. I find no justification for sacrificing the lives of those young people.”
In English-speaking Israeli news outlet I saw several articles about Rabin, one of them under the headline “Rabin’s Heritage without a Successor,” another “Who Was the Real Rabin and What Remains of Oslo.” What is his heritage, and is there really no successor to Rabin in Israel?
“Rabin’s heritage is in seeking peace and not losing faith in it. Attempts at solving the Palestine-Israel conflict, the source of all trouble in the Middle East, should not be given up, even if they have been futile until now. I would like to remind that such attempts intensified after 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and Moscow stopped supporting all sorts of terrorist movements, including the Palestinian. And this created a certain atmosphere for a way out, which resulted in Madrid and Oslo deals. I believe that the Israeli leadership is a successor to Rabin. The thing is, we need a successor not only in Israel, but also on the Palestinian side, and this we cannot see at the moment.
“There is a saying, ‘it takes two to tango.’ History shows that peace treaties are concluded when there is leadership on both sides, prepared to assume political risks and pivot the policy from war to peace. If on the one side there is a democratic leadership, which enjoys popular support, it feels strong and is prepared to take on these risks. This is what has Netanyahu often spoken about. And if the leadership on the other side is based on other features, like fear or motivation to encourage suicide bombers, such leaders feel weak and fear any attempts at finding a peaceful solution to the problem.”
“IT IS HARD FOR ME TO IDENTIFY THE PURPORT OF RUSSIA’S INTERFERENCE IN THE SYRIAN CONFLICT”
You have mentioned that the Soviet Union was not interested in finding a solution for the settling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What can you say about today’s Russia, which is trying to come back to the global stage and have a finger in every pie?
“Recently we have indeed seen Russia’s comeback in the Middle East. I cannot say that I fully comprehend the aims of such a comeback. There are a lot of various opinions. It is hard for me to identify the purport of Russia’s interference in the Syrian conflict. We need to keep up the dialog with Russia as a new force involved in the Syrian conflict, to avoid any counteraction between Israel and Russia in Syria. Certainly, we only welcome a peaceful solution in Syria. What will it look like, is not up to us to decide, we will stay out of it. We are only interested in making sure that our citizens are not bombed from Syria or from Lebanon, by Hezbollah, which Syria has been backing for many years. And if we manage to achieve this goal, the question about the regime in Syria should fall to Syrians, it is not for us to decide.”
How would you comment on the following news item on Russian-speaking Israeli news sites: “The Kremlin’s Foreign Ministry Has Dubbed Israel ‘The Territory of Middle East Settlement’”?
“There is a variety of statements which probably reflect a variety of opinions. I do not think it is productive to react to every statement. I believe that now task number one for the global community is to pressurize the Palestinian leadership to make it stop fomenting attacks on Israelis, attempts to achieve some political ends via violence, using young Palestinians to carry out attacks on Israel, and promoting killings and shahidism. And if the role of the global community turns out effective, it will indeed force the Palestinian leadership to stop violence, and later resume peace talks.”
“ARABIC SOCIETY IS TRYING TO ARRIVE AT A MORE DEMOCRATIC FORM OF STATE”
Since 2011, the Middle East and North Africa have been shaken by revolutions which some dub the Arab Spring, others the Islamic Winter, while Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called them “the West’s geopolitical engineering to replace the government.” How do you see the general picture in the region?
“In my view, names are basically irrelevant. The thing is that Arabic society is trying to arrive at a more democratic form of state. Unfortunately, Arab states do not have a democratic history. They have always been ruled by structures, which dictated virtually everything. Democratic norms and values are a new thing for them, and they are now actualized with the help of Internet and some more liberal mass information media. Access to information can no longer be controlled as it used to be. Arabs see how people live in the West, and they also want to gain their own rights. But many disagree on the notion of democracy and on the principles of building a democratic society with an eye to local features and local traditional values. It seems to me that now the Arab world experiences clashes between traditional elites, reluctant to part with power, and more progressive forces, who want to build a democracy. That is why we see such forces like the Islamic State.”
And how would you characterize this one?
“It is a very extremist organization, and it is a 100 percent setback. The Islamic State using most state of the art information media to spread an atmosphere of fear, and relies on shahids and jihad. This movement might enjoy some success at first, but it is only a matter of time before it expires or is defeated.”
“EMPHASIS ON EXCHANGE OF EXPERTISE IN THE SPHERES CRUCIAL FOR YOUR COUNTRY”
Ukraine is going through a complicated period in its history, including the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s aggression in the east. How did this situation affect the progress of our countries’ mutual relations?
“We have traditionally very good relations with Ukraine. Some half a million Israelis (out of the 6.5 million strong population) have Ukrainian background. Your country is a very important partner for us. Today Israel is the major destination of Ukrainian flights. Every day three or four fully booked flights depart to Israel from Kyiv. There are also flights to Tel Aviv from other biggest Ukrainian cities. Each year, nearly 130,000 Ukrainian tourists visit Israel. Here I have not seen anyone who either have never been to Israel or has no friends or family there. We are trying to activate our work in Ukraine via exchange of expertise in the spheres most crucial for your country.”
Would you mind giving concrete examples?
“One of the major challenges to Ukrainian society are, firstly, refugees from the ATO zone, and secondly, the demobilized troops. Many of them have various psychological problems. Since Israel has extensive expertise in treating the post-traumatic stress disorder, we periodically hold here three- or four-day seminars, given by our experts who also invite local psychologists, social workers, and educators. We have held one seminar with the participation of priests. The seminars aim at disseminating the modern methods of treating patients with such conditions. We have held 10 such seminars and plan another one or two before the year is out. Next year we are going to resume the project.
“Besides, in cooperation with Ukraine’s healthcare ministry and the WHO, we held seminars on first medical aid and refreshment courses for medical nurses. Now we are implementing a project on setting a reception room at the Uman Municipal Hospital after Israeli standards.
“Together with Canada’s government, we implement an agricultural project in four southern oblasts: Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson, and Zaporizhia. In the framework of this project, Ukrainian farmers will receive Israeli technology and methods of farming.”
What about cooperation in investments and exchange of high technologies?
“We assist potential Israeli business owners in the spheres of hi tech, promotion of startups, and innovations. We are planning a visit of Technion professor Daniel Shechtman, the Israeli laureate of the Nobel Prize for chemistry, who extensively promotes entrepreneurship in innovative technology. For many years, he has been teaching a course in entrepreneurship, which had nothing to do with chemistry. Shechtman encouraged young and talented engineers not only to look for a job, but also to create new technology and products. It seems a very interesting topic to me.
“Ukraine has very many talented people with good technical training. It is necessary to create some system of incentives for young (in spirit, if not age) Ukrainian engineers who would set up such businesses.
“Past year we brought people to Kyiv, who had created businesses in Israel and came here to share their expertise, achievements, and mistakes. That, too, is very important. We believe Ukraine has an excellent basis for cooperation, and we are going to develop it.”
