■ THE POPULARITY of Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman should not be
underestimated, regardless of the surveys taken by political
analysts.
After news reports throughout the day on Tuesday carried
references to Liberman’s possible indictment, he showed up at the King David
Hotel on Tuesday night to attend the reception hosted by Japanese Ambassador
Hideo Sato in honor of visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and was
instantly surrounded by admirers who toasted his wellbeing and wished him luck.
Later, when he was summoned to the dais to make a speech, there was a loud and
spontaneous ovation as he took his place behind the microphone.
Though
smartly groomed and dressed as always in a well-cut, expensive suit, Liberman is
not averse to using street tactics despite his suave image. Something was amiss
with the hotel microphones.
Gemba had trouble with the microphone, as did
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and a member of the Japanese Embassy staff who
acted as master of ceremonies. When Liberman started to talk, there were murmurs
of “Can’t hear you” from the crowd. He spat vigorously into the microphone – and
it worked fine.
Both Liberman and Rivlin, who addressed the guests after
Gemba delivered his speech, announced that they were not going to be politically
correct. Alluding to Gemba’s difficulties in pronunciation, Rivlin said: “What
we have in common is that English is not our mother tongue.”
Commenting
on the long friendship between the two countries currently celebrating the 60th
anniversary of diplomatic ties, Rivlin said “...though from time to time there
are some comments – especially from you to us.” Then, taking on a more serious
tone, he went on to the return of the Jewish people to their historic homeland
which, he said, “is also the homeland of those born here – and we have to
respect that, but they also have to respect that we have returned to our
homeland and established a Jewish and democratic state.”
Lieberman was
even more politically incorrect than Rivlin, to the obvious amusement of Gemba
and other Japanese dignitaries in the room.
Referring to the vibrant
democracies of both countries and the frequent parliamentary motions of no
confidence in the government, Liberman said: “We both have enjoyed so many
governments that sometimes it seems like overdoing.” Japanese culture, Liberman
continued, has become so ingrained in Israel that Israelis have become champions
in judo and karate and hold the European championship in judo. Israel has also
become “a world power in sushi” he declared, saying that he preferred the blue
and white sushi of Tel Aviv to that of Tokyo. He recommended that Gemba try it.
In a reference to the long-standing and unresolved territorial dispute between
Japan and Russia, Liberman said to Gemba: “You have a small problem with a big
neighbor – Russia, and we have a big problem with a small neighbor – the
Palestinians. I wish we could exchange problems, but [more than that] I wish we
could resolve all our problems without threats.”
Earlier, Gemba, who came
to the reception after paying a condolence call to Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, noted that Israel had been one of the first countries to establish
relations with Japan after the World War II. He was pleased that as an outcome
of visas issued by Japanese consul in Lithuania Chiune Shugihara, several
thousand Jewish people had been able to migrate to Japan and some of them had
later contributed to the establishment of the State of Israel. Among them was
Nina Admoni, who was one of the guests at the reception. Both Israel and Japan
surprised the world with their achievements, said Gemba, who attributed the
accomplishments of both countries to national character traits of diligence and
an emphasis on education and advanced technology.
Japan would not forget
Israel’s assistance in response to last year’s massive earthquake, he
said.
Gemba, who also met with Palestinian and Jordanian leaders during
his visit to the region, reiterated Japan’s political and economic commitment to
a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said that Japan
would continue to contribute to the corridor for peace and prosperity, which is
a joint economic venture between Japan, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian
Authority and is usually referred to as the “peace valley,” and urged Israel and
the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table.
In his meetings with
Liberman and Netanyahu, Gemba also discussed Israel’s initiative of railways
construction on the Sinai peninsula to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red
Sea to complement the function of the Suez Canal; Israel’s discovery of natural
gas in the Mediterranean Sea; an Israeli-developed multi-layered missile defense
system; the Iranian nuclear issue; developments in Egypt, Syrian unrest and
bilateral defense cooperation and exchange. Gemba invited Netanyahu to visit
Japan soon.
At the reception, Gemba made a beeline for Defense Minister
Ehud Barak, whom he had met when Barak visited Japan in February. The chemistry
between the two men was unmistakable, and Barak facilitated most of the
introductions between Gemba and various invited guests.
■ THEY WERE born
a year apart in the month of May. Last year was the 100th anniversary of the
birth of legendary long-time Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek. This year marks the
100th anniversary of the birth of his good friend, Axel Springer. Kollek died in
Jerusalem in January 2007.
Springer died in Berlin in September 1986.
Springer, a well-known journalist, was the founder of Axel Springer AG
multimedia publishing company whose assets include numerous newspapers and
magazines, among them Bild and Die Welt, which do so much to inform and
influence German public opinion. Today the company controls more than 230
newspapers and magazines and more than 80 online publications.
Springer,
partly through his close friendship with Kollek and partly because of his
liberal weltanschauung was a great advocate for reconciliation between Germans
and Jews and for the rights of the State of Israel. Both these factors figured
in to the many projects that he supported through the Jerusalem
Foundation.
This week a group of German journalists working for Axel
Springer publications happened to be in Israel on what would have been
Springer’s 100th birthday and decided to pay respects both to him and Kollek at
Kollek’s graveside on Mount Herzl.
The date also coincided with the 152nd
anniversary of Herzl’s birth.
Kollek, who was named after Theodor Herzl,
was born in Nagyvázsony, 120 km from Budapest; Herzl was born in Budapest.
Kollek grew up in Vienna and Herzl’s family moved to Vienna when he was
18.
Joining the Springer group at Kollek’s grave were members of the
Kollek family along with president of the Jerusalem Foundation Mark Sofer and
other JF representatives. Kollek’s filmmaker son, Amos Kollek, recalled the
close friendship between Springer and his father saying Springer was probably
Teddy’s best friend in Germany.
They met during Teddy’s first year as
mayor of Jerusalem. Teddy, who was a remarkable if unofficial tour guide, drove
Springer around the city. This was before unification, and in order to catch a
glimpse of the other side of the divided capital, they had to go up to the roof
of the old Municipality building, which was less than a 100 meters away from the
Jordanian border, the Old City walls and the Jordanian snipers. Kollek had told
Springer that Jewish Jerusalem residents had begged him to move the municipality
to a safer place in the western part of the city but that he had adamantly
refused. He believed Jerusalem would be reunited one day, and then the
bullet-riddled building of City Hall would be at its center. Amos Kollek
believes that it was this factor that contributed greatly to the special
relationship between his father and Springer, who lived and worked in
Berlin.
“He had a special burning passion for that city. He thought it
was the key to reuniting Germany, which was his most important goal.” Springer
had built his office, an imposing tall golden tower, right on the borderline
between East and West Berlin, during the Cold War. It stood on Jerusalem Road, a
street that had been named after the synagogue that had once stood there. He,
too, believed his city would one day be united and with it, the whole of
Germany. Both men had tremendous passion for their cities, and also for their
symbolic roles. Both saw unifying their cities as their major tasks, said Amos
Kollek.
“They shared total commitments to their causes and fought for
them.”
Springer’s devotion to Israel was quite unique, said Amos. “He
seemed to have taken it upon himself to do anything within his power to support
Israel in every way he could and this was imposed also on all the people who
worked on his newspapers.”
Over the years Springer contributed to many
varied projects and causes in Jerusalem, and his donations were quite
substantial. Amos Kollek cited as examples The Israel Museum, the Academy of
Music, the Sheich Jarrah Health Care Center, The Konrad Adenauer Conference
Center, Neve Ya’acov Community Center; the Jerusalem Theater, the Khan Theater,
Akim Community Centers, the renovation of several synagogues, churches and
mosques, the German Hospice in the Old City, the Nature Museum, the Van Leer
Institute, health education for Arab women, the Youth Wing at the Rockefeller
Museum, the Spinoza Seminar, aid to Holocaust survivors, the Arab Library, and
much more.
Springer wasn’t happy that the mayor of Jerusalem was living
in a three-story walk up apartment and wanted to build a house for Teddy and
Tamar Kollek in Yemin Moshe, but the offer was refused. Teddy Kollek explained
that he was the mayor of a poor city and therefore it was not fitting for him to
live in a grandiose house. Springer understood and did not pursue the matter
further. Amos Kollek said he was pleased that Springer’s widow, Friede,
continues in his footsteps and is supporting numerous projects that Teddy Kollek
and Axel Springer dreamed of together.
■ NEXT WEEK on Lag Ba’omer,
hundreds if not thousands of three-yearold Israeli boys will experience their
first haircuts. In religious circles this is a very important ceremony. Rabbi
Aharon Aberman, the chairman of Lev Malka, which caters for children with
cancer, has urged parents of three-year-old boys not to keep the shorn locks but
to contribute them to Lev Malka for the creation of wigs for children with
cancer, so that when they look at themselves in the mirror they will not be
perpetually reminded of their illness.
■ BETS ARE on as to whether former
president Moshe Katsav will be allowed to take a short leave from prison on May
20 to attend the wedding of his son to Noam to Orly Avraham. Although Katsav has
not yet served sufficient time to be eligible for a furlough, some of his
friends say that it’s a Jewish tradition never to bring a person of high rank to
the lowest possible point, but rather to allow him a vestige of dignity and
honor regardless of what crime he may have committed. For this reason they are
optimistic that he will at least be able to participate in the wedding ceremony,
even if he can’t stay for the dinner. In the worst case scenario, he can always
watch the wedding via Skype – but that would be punishing his family more than
it would be punishing him.
■ THE ISRAEL Broadcasting Authority is paying
more attention this year to the annual Eurovision Song Contest than ever before,
with weekly television programs that take viewers behind the scenes year by year
to show the press conferences, the socializing, the Jewish communities in the
countries in which the contest is held and other aspects that involve not only
the Israeli contestants but the whole Israeli team that travels with them.
Viewers quickly begin to realize that it’s not just a competition but an
exercise in public diplomacy in which a key player on more than one occasion has
been Dana International. In addition to the contest itself and the
behind-the-scenes revelations, the IBA on Tuesday hosted a glittering concert at
the Jerusalem Theater featuring former Israeli Eurovision stars such as Ilanit,
who was the first singer to ever represent Israel at Eurovision in 1972; Izhar
Cohen, who won the contest in 1978 and Dana International who won it 20 years
later in 1998.
This year’s contest takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, with
42 competing countries. Because the number of contestants keeps growing from
year to year despite occasional withdrawals, there will be two semifinals on May
22 and 24 preceding the night of the final contest on May 26. Israel will
compete in the first semi-final and will be represented by the Izabo band, which
will sing “Time,” composed by lead singer-guitarist Ran Shem-Tov and Shiri
Hadar, who put together both the lyrics and the music. Izabo prides itself on
its diversity, which gives it fairly universal appeal.
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