New York, December 18th, 2020

“This has been a year both of breakdowns and breakthroughs”, said Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, referring to the difficult year of the corona pandemic, but also to a year of unprecedented diplomatic breakthroughs for the Jewish state when the Abraham Accords were signed between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and diplomatic relations were established for the first time also with other nations, among them Morocco. Standing side by side with the Moroccan Ambassador to the UN, Omar Hilale, on Thursday night, and joined online by over one hundred UN diplomats, among them ambassadors from Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Bhutan, Gilad Erdan called the evening “a true Hanukkah miracle”.

”This form of cultural diplomacy, when diplomats sit down together, leave their differences behind and, circumstances permitting, break bread together, is the way forward to greater understanding in the world today”, noted Gregory Lafitte, Co-Founder of the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy who also spoke at the event. Over the last seven years the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy has co-hosted many similar events but this event was truly unique.

Moroccan Ambassador Omar Hilale insisted that it should not come as a surprise to anyone that he, as a Moroccan, is lighting the Hanukkah candle. “The Jewish people have always been part of Morocco”, he said. “When European governments sent their Jews to concentration camps, our king protected them. When the Nazis asked for our Moroccan Jews to be handed over, our king replied that they have no Jews, only Moroccans”.

”Hanukkah is existing together. Hanukkah is loving each other. Hanukkah is rejecting violence. Hanukkah is building bridges between people and civilizations. This is the understanding we have in our hearts”, Hilale said.

Apart from the Israeli and Moroccan Ambassadors who were physically present at the Edmond J. Safra synagogue in New York, other Hanukkah menorahs were lit during pre-recorded messages by the UN Ambassadors of the USA, Albania, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, India, Guatemala, Italy, Australia and Rwanda. All the continents of the world were thus represented in celebrating the message on Hanukkah.

The event was co-hosted by the Israeli Permanent Representation to the UN and the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy which was founded in 2014 as an UN-initiative of the European Coalition for Israel. The Forum aims at raising awareness of the essential role of culture in our civilisations, by providing a platform for exploring and building upon the dialogue between the Jewish culture and other cultures.

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A webinar conversation from 14 Dec 2020 with EU Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life, Katharina von Schnurbein, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, and ECI Director for UN Affairs, Gregory Lafitte as they discuss Jewish life in Europe in 2020. How has the corona pandemic affected Jewish community life in Europe?

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Brussels, December 3rd, 2020

“The EU should support the current process of rapprochement between former enemies in the region whilst doing its utmost to oppose those forces, governments and military groups, which seek the destruction of the Jewish state”, said ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell as he made reference to the Iranian regime in Tehran and its terrorist proxies in the region which have repeatedly threatened Israel with annihilation.

In his remarks Managing Director Fernando Gentilini from the European External Action Service (EEAS), the foreign policy arm of the EU, welcomed the normalization process in the region, and especially the Abraham Accords, where former enemies leave their differences behind and decide to cooperate. “This can have an important ripple effect in the region which could lead to more diplomatic breakthroughs”, he said. Having indirectly praised the Trump administration for its historic achievement, he maintained that the EU has had major policy differences with the Trump administration in its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in that EU continues to seek a two-state solution, based on what it considers to be internationally accepted principles, and this includes the division of Jerusalem as the capital of both the state of Israel and a new Palestinian state. But he remained optimistic in his outlook as he mentioned that the EU-Israel Association Council meetings, which have been suspended for the last eight years due to what some countries see as a lack of progress in the peace process, could soon be resumed.

Israeli Ambassador to the EU, Ron Leshno-Yaar, noted that the Middle East has changed dramatically in the last four years. He considered that these changes have occurred as a response to major transitions in leadership, technology and global challenges. “The giants of the past generations are no longer with us but replaced by a new generation of leaders. But equally important are the changes driven by technology as former enemies see the benefit of closer cooperation”, he said. He praised the partnership between Israel and the US which will remain steadfast, irrespective of which party is in the White House or is in control of the US Congress at any given time.

MEP Lukas Mandl from Austria agreed that there is both a major momentum for change and normalisation in the region as well as a transition. “In this new era, Europe needs to be reminded about the fact that Israel is our natural ally in the region with shared values and shared interests. Europe should be grateful for Israel for being a major security provider not only for the Middle East region but even for Europe and the world at large”, he said. Commenting on a change of power in the White House, he noted that, whereas he agreed up to 95% with the Middle East policies of the Trump administration, he thought that a new administration may improve the prospects for building a stronger transatlantic partnership within the Middle East.

However, both Mandl and Leshno-Yaar warned that, while Europe is more or less absent in the Middle East, this does not mean that there will be a power vacuum in the region. Other destabilizing powers are waiting to take over and are already active.

But Mandl also added that even where Europe is involved in the region, it is not necessarily always acting in a constructive and positive way, hinting at the EU’s courting of the Iranian regime in Tehran in supporting the relief from sanctions through the UN nuclear deal and in its failure to ban the Iranian financed terrorist organization Hezbollah in its entirety.

In his closing remarks Ambassador Leshno-Yaar noted that, at the end of the day, it is Israel that will define for itself what its security needs are, not leaving this to any external actors to decide. He called upon the EU to keep a closer watch on Iran and other radical forces in the region while supporting those states which are seeking to implement democratic reforms and open up to the outside world.

The webinar was part of ECI’s Annual Policy Conference which will resume on Monday, December 14th, with a seminar on antisemitism in Europe during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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A webinar conversation from 2 Dec 2020 with Israeli Ambassador to the EU, Ron Leshno-Yaar, Managing Director of EEAS, Fernando Gentilini, and MEP Lukas Mandl as they discuss Israel and the EU after the US elections. What happens next – with the Abraham Accords, Iran and peace in the Middle East?

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Participating in the celebration and in a dinner conversation about the role of their ancestors in the issuing of the Balfour Declaration were Roderick Balfour, the 5th Earl of Balfour, Robert Lloyd George, and the host of the evening, Simon Rufus Isaacs, the 4th Marquess of Reading, who all shared family tales about their renowned ancestors and their passion for the restoration of Israel.

In a recorded message to the private dinner, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that it was in the San Remo Resolution of 1920 that the Balfour Declaration was adopted as the official policy of the League of Nations and became the precursor to the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan that called for the creation of a Jewish state.

Speaking on behalf of the British government, UK Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, Lord Pickles, quoted Prime Minister Boris Johnson in stating that “the UK will remain steadfast in its commitment to Israel and its people”. He was full of optimism as he noted how the Abraham Accords are in fact opening the way for the recognition of the rights of the Jewish people living in the Arab countries, something that was agreed upon already in the Mandate for Palestine in 1922, but which is only now being gradually understood and implemented.

Commenting on the legal significance of the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Resolution, he reminded the audience of the fact that the Jewish right to the land of Israel is not limited to agreements made over the last one hundred years. Quoting the late Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), who was of Jewish descent, he said: “At a time when there were only mud huts along the Thames river, thriving Jewish communities already existed in Israel.”

This private event, which brought together friends of Israel from four continents, was convened by Tomas Sandell and Cary Summers and hosted by the European Coalition for Israel in partnership with the Marquess and Marchioness of Reading.

Picture: British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour (left) and Prime Minister David Lloyd George

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New York, October 21st, 2020

“Fighting antisemitism is most effective when we do not simply plead for tolerance but when we encourage respect and appreciation for Jewish life and culture”, they further explained. This includes respect for the only Jewish state in the world, the State of Israel. The real antidote to antisemitism is to acknowledge the richness of Jewish culture and its many contributions to mankind, from philosophy to technology.

As a result of earlier campaigns, FCD notes that the last five years have seen a number of important reforms: from the UN recognition of the Jewish religious holiday of Yom Kippur in 2015 to the appointment, earlier this year, of a UN Focal Point in the fight against antisemitism. Although things are now moving in the right direction, FCD has added that there is still a lot more work to be done, and is now calling for celebration of Jewish life and culture as the most effective antidote to Jew hatred and anti-Israel bias at the global level.

The diplomatic marathon, which is continuing this week despite the fact that the high-level segment of this 75th session came to an end a few weeks ago, has for the first time also included contact with several Arab nations which are interested in learning more about Jewish culture as they gradually open up for more religious diversity and pluralism and are in the process of establishing diplomatic relations with the State of Israel.

The Forum for Cultural Diplomacy is an initiative at the United Nations which was launched by the European Coalition for Israel in 2014.

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Nothing better illustrates the extraordinary circumstances in which we are living than the fact that this year, for the first time in its history, the Grand Synagogue of Jerusalem will be closed for the High Holidays.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who, as during the Pesach/Passover holiday in the spring this year, will be celebrating their autumn High Holidays under lockdown, away from family and friends”, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell said on Thursday.

But, even in these most difficult of times, we can see glimpses of hope. On Tuesday Israel signed the Abraham Accords in Washington D.C., opening the way, for the first time since the founding of the Jewish state in 1948, for the establishment of diplomatic relations with two Gulf States, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“Our prayer for the new year is that this peace accord will soon be followed by many others, as Jews and Arabs come together to build a better future in the Middle East”, Sandell said.

The Jewish New Year celebration, Rosh Hashanah, coincides this year, as the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary, with the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York which will also take place under exceptional circumstances. For the first time in its history, world leaders are not able to travel to the UN Headquarters in New York and will instead have to deliver their speeches via video-link.

The high-level General Debate is set to start on Tuesday, September 22nd, but will come to a halt on Monday, September 28th, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar, Yom Kippur, which since 2015 is now one of the official religious holidays within the United Nations organisation.

The Jewish feasts have a special significance in our journey as the European Coalition for Israel, Tomas Sandell explains. “It was on the Feast of Purim in 2003 that ECI was officially launched in Brussels. This religious holiday marks the heroic acts of Queen Esther, who around the fourth century BC saved the Jews living in Persia from extermination. Ten years on, in the summer of 2013, ECI initiated together with the Israeli government the process which led in 2015 to the recognition by the UN of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, as an official UN holiday.”

“The fact that the UN General Assembly as a whole will now pause for the most important day in the Jewish religious calendar is a miracle in itself”, notes Gregory Lafitte, the ECI Director for UN Affairs and Co-Founder of the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy. “It proves that progress and reforms are possible in the international community. No longer will Israeli diplomats have to miss important sessions at the UN because of their religious convictions, but instead the whole assembly of international diplomats will pause together with the Jewish people, to mark Yom Kippur!”

In previous years the European Coalition for Israel and the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy have co-hosted high-level diplomatic events at the UN Headquarters with the UN Secretary-General in attendance, to mark the Jewish New Year.

This year we want to invite the international community to join in the “10 days of awe”, a period of introspection and repentance that follows the Jewish New Year and culminates with Yom Kippur. As the UN begins its 75th session, there can be no better way to reaffirm our commitment to building a better world for future generations.

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Brussels, August 17th, 2020

The diplomatic accord, only the third such agreement between Israel and an Arab state, points to a major paradigm shift in the Middle East, where normalization between former enemies is possible as they choose to leave the past behind and together look towards the future. The agreement comes after many years of covert business relations and intelligence cooperation between the two countries.

“Achieving lasting peace and stability in the Middle East requires a coordinated effort from the whole international community”, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell said on Monday. The current process of normalization between Israel and its former enemies should be fully supported by all stakeholders, including the European Union, in order to create a new peaceful, stable and prosperous Middle East.

The non-traditional approach of the US-Administration has surprised many, in that it has managed to clinch the first ever peace agreement between Israel and a Gulf State. By achieving this landmark deal, it signals that the more comprehensive proposal for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the so-called ‘Deal of the Century’, is not dead but continues to inspire moderate Arab states in the region in finding a way out of the historic conflict. On Sunday, the President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, acknowledged that he would also be open to discuss a peace agreement with Israel. Meanwhile Iran and Turkey have condemned the deal and called it a betrayal of the Palestinian cause.

Several European governments, as well as the EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell, have welcomed the peace agreement, hoping that it can restart direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Their statements, however, have reflected a less than enthusiastic acknowledgement of the US achievement, and have instead marked their relief that the agreement will postpone any Israeli plan on annexing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, a “no-go” for the European bloc.

Other analysts have been more positive. On Friday, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, a fierce Trump and Netanyahu critic, called the agreement a ”geo-political earthquake which would further isolate the radical pro-Iran and pro-Islamist camp, while empowering moderate Arab states and those who want to end the conflict with Israel once and for all”.

“It is now time for the European Union to also adapt to this major paradigm shift in the region and call upon the Palestinian side to immediately return to the negotiating table to seek a lasting peace with Israel”, Sandell concluded.

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Since 2019 Mr Moratinos has been the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations which mandate now includes the responsibility to coordinate the UN fight against antisemitism. His new role was revealed last week when he issued an official statement expressing his dismay at the anti-Semitic views expressed by a senior member of the board of trustees of the British charity Islamic Relief. According to media reports the official had, among other things, referred to Jews as grandchildren of monkeys and pigs. The official was swiftly removed from his position and his posts on social media, which had been visible since 2014, were finally removed.

In a statement issued on July 28th, Moratinos reiterated that “it is imperative for civil society organizations to exhibit a zero tolerance for exhibiting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination on-line and off- line.”

The appointment of High Representative Moratinos as the UN’s first antisemitism monitor follows similar developments in the European Union and major European countries such as Germany, UK and France which have all appointed their own coordinators against antisemitism in recent years.

In a letter addressed to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres in connection with the opening session of the 74th UN General Assembly in September 2019, ECI recommended the creation of a new position at the office of the Secretary-General to help coordinate the fight against antisemitism.

This recommendation was echoed in an ECI webinar on June 26th, when the German Commissioner for Jewish life and the fight against antisemitism, Dr Felix Klein also called for the appointment of a UN coordinator to help the global fight against antisemitism. Germany currently chairs the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). In the webinar he also promised to promote the fight against antisemitism a visible part of Germany’s tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The work to combat antisemitism as defined by the IHRA has not been an easy task. In recent weeks Ambassador Klein has come under harsh criticism from left wing academics and activists for raising awareness to anti-Semitic statements by an African Professor who was scheduled to speak at a cultural festival in Germany. In the ECI webinar Dr Klein explained his action by pointing out that every form of antisemitism, including anti-Israelism, needs to be condemned regardless of who is promoting it.

Earlier in the spring High Representative Moratinos participated in a by-invitation only ECI hosted virtual event on Jewish culture together with some forty UN-Ambassadors as well as the Director-General of the UN office in Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya, the EU-Coordinator against antisemitism Katharina von Schnurbein and the UN Rapporteur on Religious Freedom and Belief, Ahmed Shaheed. In a UN-report released last summer also Ahmed Shaheed called for a UN focal point against antisemitism.

In a letter to High Representative Moratinos on Wednesday, ECI congratulated him on his important appointment and extended an open invitation for deeper cooperation.

“In these uncertain times of a global pandemic we should not be surprised if we soon experience a new spike in Jew hatred as conspiracy theorists around the world are looking for a scape-goat to take the blame,” the letter reads. “History reveals that way too often this scapegoat happens to be the Jewish people. Given this alarming development we need a strong and united front against antisemitism. We therefore welcome this timely decision of the Secretary-General to affirm you in this new UN position and welcome you in joining the fight against this global disease.”

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One day after the planned extension of Israeli civilian law to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Discussion from July 2, 2020, between Israeli ambassador to the EU Ronny Leshno-Yaar, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell and ECI Director of UN Affairs Gregory Lafitte.

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