Tuesday, August 11, 2009

US Jewish leaders rally in Consul Tamir's defense

Prominent Jewish leaders in New England tell Boston Globe consul, who was summoned to Israel following memo criticizing Israeli policy, is the best advocate Israel has had in years

Yitzhak Benhorin
YNET News

WASHINGTON - “I’ve known Israeli consuls general for the last 30 years or so. And I don’t think Israel has had a more effective leader in New England in that time than Nadav Tamir," former president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Steve Grossman told the Boston Globe Monday. Tamir has been summoned to Israel by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman after a confidential memo he wrote criticizing the way Israel was handling its relations with the US was leaked to the media. He is scheduled to land in the country Tuesday.



Lieberman said in regards to the memo, "If someone is not happy and can’t live with government policy, the way is not to criticize and leak but to resign. With all due respect to the consul . . . it is not his job to express political positions.’’



Influential Jewish leaders in New England rallied in Tamir's defense this week in a Boston Globe front-page story, describing him as one of the best spokespeople Israel has ever had.



“I think he believed, and believes, he has a responsibility to provide his government with timely and relevant information that will enable them to make the best possible decisions that will affect his government and the US-Israel relationship. And I think that is an entirely legitimate and critical part of his job description,’’ Grossman told the newspaper.



Michael Ross, president of the Boston City Council and son of a Holocaust survivor, said Tamir was “a dedicated advocate for Israel’’ and added, “I hope Israeli leadership will recognize his value to both their government and to Boston and will keep him in New England through the remainder of his tenure.’’



Another supporter, Nancy Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish community Relations Council since 1990 described the Israeli consul as "thoughtful, fair, and insightful" and " the best Israeli diplomat I have worked with in my 19 years here."


Ilan Troen, an Israeli-American who is director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University told the Boson daily that Tamir “is one of the brightest midcareer service people in the Israeli foreign service. When you mention Nadav Tamir in the Foreign Ministry, people’s eyes light up.’’

Comment: I find it most interesting how media chooses to report a story. For instance, if you knew nothing about the politics of the above Jewish leaders who "support" the Israeli CG from Boston, you would think how wonderful a job he has done. Of course what is missing is the politics of the "players". Brandeis University is one of the most left-wing universities in New England. Furthermore consider the following from Israel Matzav: "The foreign ministry has been a stronghold of Israel's Left for most of the last 17 years. Israel's foreign service is ideologically opposed to Prime Minister Netanyahu's policies. Nearly all of them have made their careers on the discredited Oslo process. Netanyahu is the anti-Oslo and Israel's Left has a visceral hatred for him.

On top of that, Tamir is in one of the United States' bluest cities and his views may be colored by the constant hum of Kumbaya in the background."

Also absent from this story is the following from Carl in Jerusalem: "The foreign ministry is full of 'diplomats' hired by Peres, Ben Ami, David Levy (although nominally a Likudnik not much to the right of Livni), Sylvan Shalom (ditto) and Livni. They need to be 'phased out.'"

Those of us who live in Israel are aware of the politics in the FM and we understand how "the game" is played inside and near our Consulates. I also personally know the difference in motivations that exist between groups of Jews choosing to live safely away from Israel and those who reside in the heat and heart of the matter. Ah, but this for another post.

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