Among the Muslim guests were qadis, imams, mayors, local authority heads and social activists, including the chairman of the Association of Imams Sheikh Nader Haeb; head of the Sharia courts Dr. Iyad Zakhalka; and chairman of the Committee of Arab Local Authority Heads and Mayor of Arara Mudeir Yunes. There were also several diplomats including Egyptian Ambassador Khaled Azmi, Jordanian Ambassador Ghassam Majali, United Arab Emirates Ambassador Mohammed Al Khaja, Turkish charge d’affaires Tolga Budak and Abderrahim Beyyoud head of the Moroccan liaison office in Israel.
Following a very long silence during the meal, there was some musical entertainment by a band called Meorav Yerushalmi, which translates as a Jerusalem mix, and usually refers to a menu item, in which various innards such as spleen, lungs chicken hearts, liver and bits of lamb or beef or both are cooked on a grill and seasoned with fried onions, garlic, black pepper, coriander, turmeric and olive oil. However, in this case, it referred to a mixed Jewish-Arab band whose members met 10 years ago at an interfaith music fest, clicked, and have been together ever since without a single argument because they make sure to leave controversial issues out of their conversation.
Getting in ahead of the Arab speakers, Rivlin spoke of the need to take stronger measures in combating crime and violence in Arab society. He also emphasized that more must be done to improve the level of education, close social gaps and reduce the sense of alienation between the Arab communities and Israel’s mainstream society. Until there is mutual trust and respect, fellowship, and understanding of each other’s culture, peace will remain elusive, he said, adding that these are the reasons to make sure that an iftar meal is held each year at the President’s Residence.
The Arab speakers were – as always – more vocal about the need to eliminate violence and crime, but they also spoke of national solidarity in the wake of the Mount Meron catastrophe, when Arab and Druze communities throughout the Galilee went out of their way to offer assistance and a respite to anxious and grieving families.
Zakhalka, while sympathizing with the families who lost loved ones at Meron, said that there are other grieving families who have lost loved ones to violence, to traffic accidents and to work accidents. Political tensions fueled by incitement, delegitimization and attempts to prevent freedom of worship all weigh heavily on the Arab communities of Israel he said. “We must learn to work together. There must be a special cabinet, just as there are for other issues, to actually deal with violence and not just pay lip service,” he said.
Speaking without notes “but from the heart,” Yunes commended Rivlin for always being willing to listen and to take action on behalf of the Arab sector. “We all talk about being united because we should be united,” he said. “People started talking to and about Arabs. We thought that this heralded a change, but in reality, nothing changed. If anything, the situation is worse.” Turning to efforts to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians, Yunes said “There will never be peace without the Palestinians. Israeli Arabs are a bridge, but we all have to work for peace together.”
■ FROM THE time of the expiration at midnight on Tuesday of the mandate given to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government, Rivlin was a very busy man, meeting in the mid-morning with Yesh Atid Party leader Yair Lapid to whom he later in the day gave the mandate to try to form a government and thereby prevent a fifth election in less than three years. Lapid has until midnight on Wednesday, June 2 to accomplish this task. If he succeeds, Rivlin will be able to pose for the traditional photograph with the new government before his term concludes on July 9. After Lapid, Rivlin met with Yamina Party head Naftali Bennett who it seems may become the alternate prime minister despite the fact that the bulk of the electorate didn’t want him. Bennett is so fixated on becoming prime minister that the nation is being held to ransom. Unfortunately, without him, Lapid has no hope of forming a government, and Bennett’s support was conditional and far from altruistic.
■ RIVLIN HAD asked to receive by 2 p.m. written confirmation by the parties represented in the Knesset of their recommendation as to which legislator should be entrusted with the task of forming the next government. Meanwhile, Rivlin who is still in throes of making his farewells visited Mossad headquarters for precisely such a purpose and met with Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen and senior Mossad personnel. The president lauded Mossad as being “the longest and most daring arm that we have.” Rivlin, who during his seven-year stint has been privy to many Mossad operations, praised the organization’s unique capabilities in the darkest places and the most hostile environments such as the heart of Tehran and of Damascus, and other places that remain classified, carrying out missions that defied the imagination.
Rivlin also participated in a memorial ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the death of Irgun Zvai Leumi (Etzel) leader David Raziel and remarked that there are very few people still alive who had the good fortune to know this extraordinary man and who can tell his story. When Ze’ev Jabotinsky appointed Raziel to be the Etzel commander-in-chief, he told him that he had been waiting for someone like him for 15 years, said Rivlin.
Though leaving office, Rivlin pledged to continue to attend such memorial ceremonies and to carry the memory of Etzel in his heart in the knowledge that were it not for the sacrifice of such individuals, “we would not have gained the redemption of our people and our land and the liberty of Israel.”
Early the evening Rivlin in a broadcast to the nation explained why he had decided to give the mandate to Lapid.
■ DURING THE Second World War, the Krupp company, one of Germany’s leading industrial giants in the production of steel, artillery and armaments, was an avid supporter of the Nazi regime and actively involved in war crimes, including the use of almost 100,000 slave laborers. Its chief executive Alfred Krupp was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but served only three years after being pardoned.
Fritz Thyssen, the head of another large industrial conglomerate was among the early supporters of the Nazi Party but became disenchanted. Though initially in favor of prewar anti-Jewish legislation which barred Jews from owning businesses, being gainfully employed or mixing socially with Germans, Thyssen, being a good Catholic, balked at the Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church. Kristallnacht opened his eyes to what the Nazis really were, and as he witnessed what was being done to the Jews, his loyalty to the Third Reich dissipated. A year later, after the invasion of Poland, Thyssen sent a telegram to Herman Goering expressing his opposition to war. He was expelled from the Nazi Party and a year later all his industrial holdings were nationalized. The company was returned to the Thyssen family after the war. The two companies merged in 1999 and together are among the world’s largest producers of steel. ThyssenKrupp is one of the world’s largest multinational companies with a vast range of products including ships. It manufactures corvettes, frigates and submarines.
Thus, it was with mixed feelings this week, that Jerusalemite Laura Kam, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor family, cracked a bottle of champagne on the side of a ThyssenKrupp corvette that was moored in Kiel, Germany. Kam, who is the wife of Israel’s ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff, said that she had done a few cool things over the years as a diplomatic spouse, but never anything quite as moving as naming a ship. The ship in question was named in the presence of Rear Admiral Ariel Shir of the Israel Navy. ThyssenKrupp chairman Dr. Rolf Wirtz, various dignitaries and the crew of the ship dressed in their spotless white uniforms.
The ship which is part of the fleet of the Israel Navy, is the second of a total of four SA‘AR 6 that will run under the name INS Oz (Courage or Power).
Issacharoff described the corvette as a unique synthesis of German and Israeli technology and the result of the close cooperation necessary to build such an impressive vessel. “For me, the ship symbolizes Israeli-German cooperation in its best form,” he said. Relating to the name of the ship, Issacharoff said that it symbolizes the determination required to protect Israeli gas drilling islands and fields in the eastern Mediterranean with a new vital strategic defense capability.
Prior to his posting to Germany, Issacharoff was vice director-general of the Foreign Ministry, where he had his finger on the pulse of all the countries with which Israel enjoys diplomatic relations. As such, and in his present role, he was able to experience how Israel and Germany were able to forge a new strategic partnership, illustrated by the incredible corvette consisting of what to some people may be almost two thousand tons of metal and steel, while others might see two thousand tons of defense and deterrence. “I think that INS Oz represents our ability to maintain peace and stability, and in that sense is the true expression of two thousand tons of German-Israeli friendship,” said Issacharoff.
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