US Jewish groups offer to help new UN envoy

"Israel may cast only one vote, yet our voice is powerful," ambassador Shalev tells Jewish leaders.

By ALLISON HOFFMAN, JPOST CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK
Shalev ban ki-moon 248 88 (photo credit: Allan Tannenbaum [file])
Shalev ban ki-moon 248 88
(photo credit: Allan Tannenbaum [file])
American Jewish leaders who welcomed Israel's newly installed United Nations Ambassador Gabriela Shalev last week wasted no time offering assistance to the freshman diplomat. Days of her arrival in New York, she had appeared with the American ambassador to the UN at a panel hosted by the United Jewish Communities and received a standing ovation after speaking at a small reception hosted by the Council of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Many of the largest groups have spent years building up their own shadow diplomatic networks at the UN, holding meetings with foreign heads of state during the General Assembly sessions and in other venues, including a highly publicized rally against Iran scheduled for September 22 in New York. "[Shalev] wants to be able to say, 'Look what I have done,'" said Charlotte Frank, who sits on the board of the America-Israel Friendship League. "I want her to look back and say, 'These people have helped.'" Frank was one of a handful of women present at the Council of Presidents soirée, where Shalev emphasized that she wants to put Israel at the forefront of women's rights issues at the UN. "Your presence - along with that of the many Jewish organizations under your leadership - reassures me that at the United Nations, Israel may cast only one vote, yet our voice is powerful," she said in prepared remarks to the group. "I say to you, as a proud Zionist, as a proud Jew, and as a proud Israeli, it is my hope that together, Israel and the committed Jewish Diaspora here in America that you all represent will work to reaffirm the values of human rights, the dignity of the human person, the equal treatment of men and women, and of all nations large and small," she continued. Some groups, including the left-wing Jewish Voice for Peace, said they were waiting for Shalev to clearly articulate specific initiatives for her tenure before they reached out to her. But Frank was one of several who said they were prepared to help Shalev in any way. "She'll work closely with the community and utilize all the resources that are available," said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Council of Presidents. "But it's too early to tell how she'll handle the job. She herself doesn't know." Shalev gave some indication on Wednesday, when she came out swinging against Iran in her first public statements. She sharply rebuked Teheran for presuming to lecture Israel on morals after the country's UN Ambassador Muhammad Khazee protested threats from Israeli cabinet members to use force against the Islamic Republic and perhaps kidnap President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to bring him before an international tribunal. "It is absurd that Iran preaches morality to Israel," came the retort from Shalev, a diminutive but steely 67-year-old, who was an internationally renowned professor of contract law before Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni sponsored her for the UN post. "You can be from an educational background and still be a diplomat," said Frank, who holds a doctorate in education and is a former New York State Regent. "But she has to create a storyline and get us all to be zealots for her goals."