fredzio54
15.11.02, 15:12
Unia kocha Arafata I Finansuje Terror, fracja jest najlepsza !!!!
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Euro diplomats getting abusive, top Israelis say
Nonsense, Israelis are just more touchy, say diplomats serving here
By Charlotte Halle
Top Israeli diplomats past and present are noticing a shift in diplomatic
usage by ambassadors accredited to Israel. But European envoys say there is
no change in their language - the intifada has just made Israelis more
sensitive to criticism.
European ambassadors taking "the liberty to criticize Israeli policy in a not
very diplomatic way," says Zalman Shoval, a former Likud MK who was twice
Israeli ambassador to Washington.
Shoval attributes the shift to a "general change of mood in parts of Western
Europe regarding Israel - not unconnected to the growth of anti-Semitism." He
says he is not accusing the ambassadors of anti-Semitism, but he is
suggesting their criticism of Israel - "consciously or unconsciously" - is
motivated by anti-Semitism. They are influenced by the atmosphere in their
countries, which are also "hung up over their own colonial pasts," says
Shoval.
The shift is not significant enough to indicate a change in atmosphere
between Israelis and foreign diplomats personally or at a business level, he
says. "Relationships have not changed. Ambassadors still say they were
misquoted, which is a standard way of retreating in diplomatic practice."
Recently both Belgium ambassador Wilfred Geens and British ambassador Sherard
Cowper-Coles were publicly scolded by the Foreign Ministry for comments they
were quoted as making. Geens was reported to have called Infrastructure
Minister Effi Eitam a "fascist" during an interview with an Arabic-language
weekly based in Nazareth - a claim Geens described as "twisted and
fabricated" - and Cowper-Coles was quoted as calling the West Bank and Gaza
Strip as "the biggest detention camp in the world" during a private
conversation with an IDF general which was leaked.
Criticism of Israel is the "zeitgeist of Europe these days, hence this sort
of language has become the language of diplomacy," says British-born Yehuda
Avner, a former senior Foreign Ministry official, who served as ambassador to
London for much of the 1980's. Diplomats, he says, are addressing a public
which is "attuned" to this kind of language.
"Governments do not have to spell it out for diplomats to resort to abusive
vernacular," says Avner. "Western Europe has a long history of being very
judgmental toward Israel and is constantly seeking ways to become part of the
political processes here in the Middle East," which Israel has never been
enthusiastic about. "It can be a source of frustration for European
ambassadors in this country," he added.
Red lines
Earlier this month, Victor Harel, the head of the Foreign Ministry's Europe
division, who was given the task of expressing the ministry's disapproval of
Geens' comments, told Anglo File that recent comments from ambassadors
reflected a new trend of diplomats breaking with "traditional diplomacy"
and "crossing red lines" in their willingness to criticize Israel publicly.
He added that the Foreign Ministry is "very concerned" by the trend.
Colette Avital, MK (Labor), a former ambassador to Portugal and consul-
general in New York, said that as a diplomat, public criticism is "simply not
done." She described the comment about Eitam attributed to the Belgium
ambassador as "going against any rule of diplomacy." A good diplomat, she
commented, would have said, "we don't approve of such policies," when asked
about Eitam.
European diplomats in Israel have a different take on the matter. All those
interviewed said there was no change in the tone or language used by
diplomats here, but some mentioned a notably increased sensitivity on behalf
of Israelis since the second intifada broke out more than two years ago.
One European ambassador in Israel commented that leaking a private
conversation - which he emphasized was not a new phenomena - now had the
potential to be more damaging as a result of the "heightened sensitivity"
Israelis now feel. There was also a slight decrease in trust between
diplomats and the Israeli authorities they deal with, he commented.
"All sorts of weapons are being used in this conflict. There is often
animosity directed toward our governments and, as ambassadors, we can get
caught in the middle." Ambassadors from the European Union are particularly
vulnerable, he added, as the EU is one of Israel's "favorite punch-bags,"
despite the many "positive programs" it sponsors here.
Another senior European diplomat suggested that Israelis sometimes employ a
level of "emotional blackmail" in order to deter envoys from voicing
criticism of the country's policies. One central European ambassador noted
that while there was a diplomatic tradition of not criticizing the host
country, Israeli ambassadors abroad have not always stuck to this code too
carefully.
Claude Altermatt, counsellor of the Swiss embassy, acknowledged that while
there is "tension" as a result of the intifada, he observed no change in the
atmosphere between Israelis and foreign diplomats.
"I don't see any reluctance on the part of Israelis to speak about the
situation or in their level of tolerance to accept criticism," he said,
pointing out that diplomats based here also "share the problems of Israelis
and the same threat of terror." Swiss concerns about Israeli violations of
the Geneva Conventions in the West Bank and Gaza are "not new," he added.
