Making friends with
Israel:
Britain appoints Judaeo-centric Zionist
diplomat as ambassador to IsraelBy Gilad Atzmon
13 December 2009
Gilad Atzmon asks how the appointment by Britain’s Jewish
foreign secretary, David Miliband, of a fiercely Zionist diplomat as
the UK ambassador to Israel is likely to serve British interests in
the event of a conflict with Israel.
"Considering Israel's
crimes against humanity in general and Palestinians in
particular, one would expect Britain to send an impartial
ambassador to the Jewish state. Judaeo-centric by admission and
Zionist by education, Gould is certainly not the man for the
job."
In case you want to learn how to appeal to the Jews, British
diplomat Matthew Gould gives a free lesson. Haaretz has
reported
that Gould, the newly-appointed British ambassador to Israel, wasn't
too connected to his Jewish roots until he served in Tehran.
Seemingly, now he knows where he belongs.
"Being posted in Iran made me go to shul [synagogue] more
regularly," says the new ambassador. "I did it to reach out to the
Jewish community in Iran and to show that Western embassies were
watching out for its welfare," Gould explains. "I was determined to
go to shul to show both the Jewish community and the
Iranian authorities that I was Jewish and not embarrassed of it."
Eighty per cent
of Conservative MPs belong to the Israel lobby group
Conservative Friends of Israel |
|
Gould says that his two-year stint up to 2005 in Tehran as deputy
head of mission has given him "a real expertise in an issue of
profound security importance to Israel".
The religious process that began in Tehran continued in Britain. "I
got more active [with Judaism] and over the last couple of years
I've spent a lot more time and a lot more thought on my Jewish
identity and what it means to be Jewish," says Gould.
Haaretz reports that Gould and his wife go to shul
every week at the West London Synagogue. As a child, Gould recalls
going to Middlesex New Synagogue in Harrow with his parents, who
still live in London as "proud but inactive" members of the Jewish
community.
In Israel, Gould says he and his wife "will keep a Jewish household”
and "bring up their kids in the Jewish tradition, when those
children are born”. Gould knows some parts of Israel, from his
visits there as a child, when he would occasionally go to the
Liberal Movement's Kadima summer camps. He also has family – second
and third cousins – in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. What can we say, he
is not only a Jew but a product of a typical Zionist upbringing.
Considering Israel's crimes against humanity in general and
Palestinians in particular, one would expect Britain to send an
impartial ambassador to the Jewish state. Judaeo-centric by
admission and Zionist by education, Gould is certainly not the man
for the job. As Gould himself admits, "the fact that I'm Jewish
means I will come with a particular insight and sympathy and
understanding, because the story of my family is in certain respects
the story of the people of the State of Israel”.
A month ago British TV Channel 4 broadcast an
exposè of the UK Jewish lobby. It revealed also that 50 per cent
of MPs in the shadow cabinet are
Conservative Friends of Israel members. The Jews in Britain, or
at least the rich ones, are drifting away from the Labour Party.
They gamble on the Tories. Consequently, David Miliband, the foreign
minister, is doing whatever he can to bring the Jewish fundraisers
back home to his Labour Party.
At the end of October Miliband lambasted the Conservative Party over
their new alliance with the far right in Europe and with a Polish
politician with an anti-Semitic past. Some prominent British Jews
were not impressed. They
knew exactly what Miliband was up to; they realized that Miliband,
himself a Jew, was attempting to destabilize the new Jewish alliance
with the Conservatives.
Fatigue is not exactly one of Miliband's characteristics. As we
learn from Haaretz, he is now sending the Jewish state a
kosher ambassador, one who “goes to the shul every
Sabbath”, one who vows to keep a “Jewish household”. One who
understands and is “sensitive to Israeli security matters”.
Ambassador Gould maintains that he is going as “the British
ambassador, to pursue British policies and advance British
interests". So here are two simple questions to the new British
ambassador to Israel. How are you going to act when the British
interests and the Jewish ones oppose each other? How will you act
when you notice a clear discrepancy between Israeli actions and
humanism?
Gilad Atzmon is
an Israeli-born musician, writer and anti-racism campaigner. His
latest jazz album, "In loving memory of America", was released
on 1 March 2009 and can be purchased
here.
Appendix:
Israeli paper Ha'aretz, Online edition, published
11.12.2009:
U.K. envoy to Israel: I didn't ask to serve in
Israel because I'm Jewish
After serving in Tehran, Britain's first Jewish ambassador-designate to Israel
speaks about his Jewish roots.
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Britain's first Jewish ambassador-designate to Israel, Matthew
Gould, wasn't too connected to his Jewish roots - until he served in
Tehran. "Being posted in Iran made me go to shul more regularly,"
the 37-year-old diplomat from London said yesterday over the phone,
in a first interview for the Israeli press ahead of his arrival next
year to replace Tom Philips.
"I did it to reach out to the Jewish community in Iran and to
show that Western embassies were watching out for its welfare,"
Gould explains. "I was determined to go to shul to show both the
Jewish community and the Iranian authorities that I was Jewish and
not embarrassed of it."
Gould says that his two-year stint through 2005 in Tehran as
deputy head of mission has given him "a real expertise in an issue
of profound security importance to Israel."
The religious process that began in Tehran continued in Britain.
"I got more active [with Judaism] and over the last couple of years
I've spent a lot more time and a lot more thought on my Jewish
identity and what it means to be Jewish," says Gould.
Another factor that brings the high-flying diplomat - who
currently serves as chief-of-staff for Foreign Secretary David
Miliband - to contemplate his background, was his recent marriage to
Celia Leaberry Gould, who is not Jewish. "As a result of thinking
about, applying and getting this job, and also because of my
marriage, I ended up being much clearer in my mind about my Jewish
identity," says Gould, who studied theology at Cambridge.
Although he specifically asked to serve in Israel, Gould says
this was not because he was Jewish. "I did it for a range of reasons
and because I would be dealing with issues of critical importance to
Britain, the region and beyond."
Gould and his wife go to shul every week at the West London
Synagogue, where services follow the prayer books of the Movement
for Reform Judaism. As a child, Gould recalls going to Middlesex New
Synagogue in Harrow with his parents, who still live in London as
"proud but inactive" members of the Jewish community, as he
describes them.
In Israel, Gould says he and his wife "will keep a Jewish
household," and "bring up their kids in the Jewish tradition," when
those children are born. Gould knows some parts of Israel, from his
visits here as a child, when he would occasionally go to the Liberal
Movement's Kadima summer camp. He also has family - second and third
cousins - in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
"The fact that I'm Jewish means I will come with a particular
insight and sympathy and understanding, because the story of my
family is in certain respects the story of the people of the State
of Israel," he says. "But fundamentally I'm going as the British
ambassador, to pursue British policies and advance British
interests."
A possible Conservative victory over Labour in the general
election next year will not affect Gould's position, he says. "In
our system, this is not an issue. Ambassadors are non-partisan."
Familiar though he is with the Tel Aviv coastline, Gould has
never been inside the embassy building on Hayarkon Street. "Someone
told me there's a view of a hotel," he said. But he added that he
remains hopeful for a view of the Mediterranean Sea.
