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| Ambassador Ido Aharoni. |
November 11, 2013
Among ongoing chaos in the Middle East, Ambassador Ido Aharoni sees both
challenges and opportunities for Israel today. Aharoni, Consul General of Israel
in New York, visited Regent University on Monday, Nov. 4, to meet with students,
faculty and staff, members of the local Jewish community and representatives
from the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).
During a large group presentation to about 300 students and guests, Aharoni
began his remarks with some observations about the "Arab Spring."
"In
our culture, 'spring' stands for something very distinct and very clear,
something that is seasonal," Aharoni explained. "Are we looking at something
seasonal that will be over soon? Or, are we looking at the disintegration of
countries in our region and the boundaries that were determined by two powers at
the time—France and England?
"Spring also stands for something positive,
that is about growth, renewal. I'm not sure we're looking at something that will
have a positive outcome on people in the region," he added.
The
ambassador addressed "lessons learned" from the Arab Spring, specifically as it
relates to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He noted that the "linkage
argument" has suffered a major blow as a result of recent events. The "linkage
argument" says the root cause of Middle East instability is the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Today is the 34th anniversary of the
seizure of the American embassy in Tehran, which had nothing to do the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, leading to
the first Gulf War. That action had nothing to do with the Israel and
Palestine," he said. "There are no fewer than 29 active tribal, religious and
military conflicts in the Middle East. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one
of many conflicts. That's not to say it's not an important conflict to
resolve—far from it—but it's much easier to deal with problems on the table if
we're negotiating under the right atmosphere."
Aharoni also pointed out
the difference between democratic elections and democracy as a value system
using the example of Gaza elections in 2006, which led to a victory by the
terrorist organization Hamas that now governs in an undemocratic fashion.
"The ability to conduct open, transparent elections is not the only
expression of democracy," he said. "Democracy is about values and people's
ability to live by those values."
On a positive note, Aharoni shared
encouraging developments from Israel, including the ability to now negotiate
with Palestinians "freely, professionally and discreetly"—a process he hopes
will lead to more good news. He touted Israel's water self-sufficiency, which
has been a priority issue since the nation's inception. Similarly, Israel has
identified significant deposits of natural gas that may lead not only to
Israel's energy-independence, but could also result in Israel exporting natural
gas.
Aharoni also spoke passionately about creativity in Israel. He
cited a book, The Rise of the Creative Class, which suggests that the presence
of a "creative class"—the people who develop ideas that change the destiny of a
society—is the one element that gives a society an edge.
"I'm happy to
report, that according to any measurement, the creative class in Israel is
perhaps the fastest-growing in the world," Aharoni said, listing top rankings
for Israel, including the number of conceptual ideas produced, start-up
companies, scientific papers, and three universities ranked among the top 100 in
the world.
"Israel is only at the very beginning of introducing ideas
that will impact positively everyone in the world," he said.
Besides this presentation, Aharoni met with Regent University leaders and
faculty members from several schools. He also appeared on CBN's The 700 Club.
His visit to Regent was part of the university's Ambassador Series, which brings
international dignitaries to the university to interact with the campus
community.
Since August 2010, Ambassador Aharoni has been the Consul
General at the Consulate General of Israel in New York, serving the tri-state
area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. He has been a member of Israel's
Foreign Service since 1991. Aharoni has a bachelor's degree from Tel Aviv
University with a joint-major in Film and Television, Sociology and
Anthropology. He earned a master's degree in Mass Communications from Emerson
College in Boston. Aharoni served in the Israel Defense Forces as a company
commander in the infantry during the first Lebanon war. He retired from military
reserves several years ago, at the age of 48, as a Major (Ret).
