InFocus Israel 2017/1.

IN FOCUS

2017. 1th Issue Free of Charge

Israel’s Role in the Changing World Order

Interviews

Society

Culture

Economy

International Relations WELCOMING WORDS

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WELCOME

Israel’s Role in the Changing World Order

All rights reserved. Articles to be found in this publication are the intellectual property of the Antall JĂłzsef Knowledge Centre. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted

in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording,

or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

5 6

Welcome Impressum Editorial greetings

46 47 49–50 51

8–11 12–13 14–20

Interviews HE Dr Andor Nagy Zsolt Németh Israel’s Role in the Changing World Order – HE Yossi Amrani

14–20

56 56–57 58–59

Economy From a Socialist Economy into an Innovation Power Supremacy of Energy Challenges of the Israeli Economy Sustainable Development

60–64

TOP 5 Music, Movies, Famous personalities

54–55

22 23 24 25–26 27–28

30–31 32–35 36–38

40 41–42 43–45

International Relations of Israel At the Centre of the World Island Struggle for Strategic Depth Breaking out of Regional Isolation Dawn of a New Order in the Middle East Israel’s Relations beyond the Region

Society A Multi-multicultural Society National and Religious Holidays Educational System

Security Conscription Armed Forces Geostrategic Environment

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66–73 74–77

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WELCOME

Domestic Affairs Structure and Challenges of the Jewish and Democratic State Zionism Political System Shimon Peres – The Last Founding Father Israeli Narratives on Peace

Book Review Parag Khanna: Connectography – Mapping the Future of Global Civilization

Antall József Knowledge Centre Introduction Interview with Peter Antall

Next Issue

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Israel in Focus We are continuing the In Focus series of the Antall József Knowledge Centre with a country small in territory, but all the more important on the international scene. Israel is one of the most widely discussed state in the international media, both in positive and in negative terms, be it innovation, economy, armed conflict, social justice, or the lack of it. Among the great powers in the Middle East, Israel has the smallest geographical extent, but at the same time it possesses the most effective military in the region. The actions and fate of the Jewish state define the stability of Europe’s southeastern neighbourhood which is increasingly becoming a source for potential security threats.

The young state has stepped up during the last seventy years to a great power in terms of innovation, science and economy, and it is to become a significant international actor in the field of hydrocarbon resources. All of these issues, which will be extensively discussed in the volume, constitute an indispensable material for our readers interested in international affairs.

We hope that this publication will contribute to the mutually beneficial development of the relations between the State of Israel and Hungary.

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Lectori Salutem!

Welcoming Words by the Editor

Israel always reminds me of a dramatic photomontage. The picture presents a line of people, composed of two photographs. On the farther, black and white end of the picture, we see people standing in line in a concentration camp, starved and tortured. The closer end is colourful and shows armed Israeli soldiers.

The photograph proclaims: the nation of Israel lives! The second thing which comes to my mind is a beautiful country, rich in history, cultural and religious tradition, the birthplace of the three Abrahamic religions. Past, present, and future do not meet (clash?) anywhere else in the world as much as in the Holy Land.

On the foundations of the Jewish people’s homeland, a modern, innovative economic, and political great small power has emerged which maintains strongly its traditions. The feeling of the ever-present threat created a unique state structure, which is immersed in religious dogmatism. The state celebrating its 70th anniversary next year is one of the most fascinating historical projects. This year’s anniversaries provide ample opportunities to present the State of Israel.

I am in a comfortable position as my colleague, Zsolt Csepregi, is a seasoned expert on the subject. This issue is his work.

Regarding the changing world order which emerged after the closure of the Cold War, we usually discuss previous great powers such as China, Russia, and India that are rich in resources?, while we worry about the instability in the West and the demographic and economic crisis in Japan. The importance of the sheer size of territory, population, and natural resources is decreasing; global relevance is achieved more and more through technology. Israel’s importance in the changing world order is therefore more subtle, but not less significant in projecting the balance of global power in the 21st Century. Being on the frontline of technological progress, the young and dynamic Jewish state, based on its economic and military might, as well as its geographical position, it ought to be among the most influential countries on the global stage. In an era in which we in Europe consider the Middle East as a source of security threats, we must identify those states which have the potential to become the main actors of regional cooperation and, therefore, providers of stability. This issue of In Focus aims to present the mechanisms at work in Israel, contribute to a deepening foreign policy discourse, and also encourage the Reader to see the reality in person, as Israel has never been more reachable from Hungary than it is now.

Ádám Kégler – Editor-in-Chief Deputy Director for International Affairs Antall József Knowledge Centre

Zsolt Csepregi Head of Office Asian and African Relations Office

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THE STATE OF ISRAEL IN NUMBERS

Capital: Jerusalem (Internationally recognized only by the USA)

Government: Parlamentary democracy Independence declared: 14 May 1948

Hymn: HaTikva (The Hope) Official languages: Hebrew, Arabic Population: 8.6 million

Head of State_ Reuven Rivlin (2012- )

Prime Minister: Benjamin Netanyahu (2009- )

Gross Domestic Product: 327.631 billion USD (2017, IMF) GDP/capita: 37.778 USD (2017, IMF) Currency: New Israeli Shekel

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INTERVIEW

RELATIONS BETWEEN HUNGARY AND ISRAEL Interview with HE Dr. Andor Nagy, Ambassador of Hungary to Israel

Based on your experience, how did the relations between Israel and Hungary change during your three-year-long tenure as Ambassador?

The relations between Hungary and Israel are quite good; there are no conflicts between the two states which would result in strained relations. There are at least three hundred thousand Israeli citizens of Hungarian origin.

This does not mean that they all speak Hungarian, but the community of Hungarian speakers is also significant in terms of numbers and influence. After Marseille, Budapest has the largest Jewish community in Europe. Because of these two facts, relations between the countries are destined to be warm. Outside of the Carpathian basin, one of the largest Hungarian speaking community that is of Jewish origin lives here, therefore Israel’s security is important for Hungary. The two prime ministers’ personal relationship is 8

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also quite good.

I also consider the intergovernmental cooperation commendable. Although there is some imbalance, more Hungarian ministers and ministers of state visit Israel, which has a very simple reason. The Israeli governing coalition has a slight majority, therefore their opportunity to travel is limited. I feel that the cultural relations are also satisfactory, the Operett Theater plays regularly at the Tel-Aviv Opera and the Liszt Ferenc Academy and the Jerusalem Music Academy conduct regular student exchanges and joint programmes.

There are of course disrupting factors, which are connected to anti-Semitism in Hungary.

I was summoned three times to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs because of the inauguration of certain statues, which were criticised by our Jewish community. The Israeli system has an intense relationship with the Diaspora Jewry, therefore if they sense any problems, the Israeli government tries to communicate them through diplomatic channels. We have succeeded in finding solutions to all of these issues, and, as the president of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Hungar y has conducted a successful premiership, the international organisation was led by State Secretary Szabolcs Takács for a year. He has managed to achieve that the EU did not adopt a proposed legislation, which would have permitted the omission of crimes committed against Jews during the Holocaust.

The Hungarian-Israel scientific cooperation has a great future and our common goal is to promote the relations and joint work between the two scientific communities, first and foremost through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 application system, of which Israel is the only, full, non-EU member participant. This mission is served by the Hungarian-Israeli Scientific Society, which consists of forty Israeli researchers. Most of them have Hungarian roots, others have Hungarian scientific partners. The honorary President of the society is Rabbi Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, President of the Bar-Ilan

University and former Minister of Science and Technology of the State of Israel. During his recent visit to Israel, László Palkovics, Minister of State for Education, highlighted three areas which would lead to economic cooperation between the two countries: smart city, e-learning and e-health, as well as the engineering, research and academic cooperation.

What are the areas in which cooperation should be enhanced between the two countries?

I regret that we are not each other’s significant economic partners, even if TEVA is one of the most important and oldest foreign investors in Hungary. Their second largest plant is located there, they are very satisfied with their presence in Hungary, and they consider their Hungarian subsidiary very successful. I would like to mention Nav&Go, a Hungarian-Israeli joint venture, which was elected as the most rapidly-growing company in Europe, as more than 900 software developers work for them.

The Israeli real estate investors lost capital because of the economic crisis, but we have seen change even on this front. Altogether, we need to enhance our cooperation not only in the economic realm, but in additional spheres, such as high-tech, start-ups, life sciences and agriculture. These areas are considered strategic priorities by us, together with energetics, particularly renewable energy. Israel, in particular Tel-Aviv, is one of the most innovative places of the world.

The metropolitan area of Tel-Aviv is the fourth most innovative region in the globe, while the first three is located in the United States. Israel spends an ample amount of capital on research and development, 4-5% of its GDP. A unique start-up climate exists in Israel, which makes it very attractive for start-up companies. It is my sincere belief that it is easier for a Hungarian company to achieve success in the Silicon Valley through Israel than going for it directly. Some of our initiatives serve this goal, we aim to present the Israeli start-up system to Hungarian

governmental leaders and to bring as many successful Hungarian start-ups to Israel as we can in order to find partners for them, and with the aid of these partners they may achieve success in the United States, which still plays a central role in high-tech.

For the cooperation in the field of innovation between the Visegrad Countries, a good example is the initiative of our embassy, in which the Visegrad states presented themselves jointly at Israel’s largest high-

I believe, and we must not misunderstand this, that we are “not on Israel’s map” so to say, which is also our mistake to some degree. Now this is changing. tech expo. Cooperation with the other three members of the Visegrad Countries is traditionally good in the field of economy, science, and culture, and it is also intensifying in third countries. In this, the current diplomats are excellent partners, although we are still learning and developing the method of our cooperation.

Apart from the economy, which Israeli trends are worth analysing from Hungary?

After three years, the most fascinating insight for me is how a country with a persistent negative image can still succeed. Let us admit it, Israel’s character in the media is defined mostly by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is not positive, but they have managed to build a country in which the GDP per capita is on par with Japan and France. This does not mean that there is no poverty in Israel, but it is a huge accomplishment in a state which is only sixty nine years old. I think the root of this success is might. Israel, due to its armed forces and the perseverance of its people, has INTERVIEWS

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become the most powerful state in the Middle East and utilises its position of power, which is not sympathetic, but nevertheless effective. It has to act in an Arab environment, with twentytwo Arab states with a combined population of four hundred fifty million, and managed to be successful regardless of these terms. It is very lucky that the United States is its closest ally, due to the large Jewish diaspora living there. With a strategic ally like this, Israel has managed to achieve a very influential position.

How does Israel evaluate Hungary and its region? What type of partnerships does it try to build in our neighbourhood?

I believe, and we must not misunderstand this, that we are “not on Israel’s map” so to say, which is also our mistake to some degree. I am trying to change this, and I think the region is a much more useful tool, as the Visegrad Cooperation became much more appreciated last year. I have mentioned that the United States is Israel’s strategic ally. On the other hand, the European Union is the second most important partner of Israel. If we look at the economic indicators, the Israeli economy has its closest links with the members of the European Union and not with the United States and by far not with China. The political and diplomatic relations between the EU and Israel are more strained. Therefore, the Visegrad Cooperation, which is considered as an opposition of the European mainstream, has gained significance, we have shifted in many ways to the same platform as Israel.

The other reason why Israel appreciates the V4 in the Union is that it is the only formal cooperation, and its population of sixty million makes it a significant actor. We can state that it is the economic engine of Europe; our region achieves a more than 3% GDP growth on an annual basis. Compared to European averages, this is a high rate, therefore Israel aims to build good diplomatic and political relations with V4 countries. It has the best relations with the Czech Republic, which has historical reasons; in 1948, the Czechs supplied arms after Israel was established which has an important place in the Israeli 10

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collective memory. The Polish case was always special, those who made Aliya came mainly from Poland, and therefore the connection was vivid. On the other hand, the death camps made it controversial. Relations with Hungary and Slovakia are becoming more intensive. To conclude, I think Hungary has to be positioned as a defining country of the V4 region, since there is more potential in a regional cooperation, economic actors can invest more conveniently into a region than a country with a pollution of five, ten, or even forty million.

How do you evaluate the security perception of Israel considering the instability of the country’s surroundings?

It is evident that, for Israel, the issue of security is a top priority in the public discourse; everything else comes later. It has become much more important that the Middle East has four states which can still be called countries, one of them is Israel, alongside Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan. In other countries, such as Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon to some degree, the statesystem faces huge challenges. Regarding Israel, it has been said that once the IsraeliPalestinian conflict has been solved, all conflicts in the Middle East will be settled as well. With the emergence of the Islamic State, this has changed radically, the IsraeliPalestinian conflict is not considered to be the most significant conflict in the region, it is the threat presented by ISIS and radical Islam which has the goal of gaining influence in as many Arab countries as possible. The ShiaSunni clash has emerged and a conflict has risen between radical and moderate Islam, in which it is possible that Israel is able to cooperate with moderate Sunni states which are interested in limiting the powerful IranianShia influence. Hezbollah, Syria, and the Houthis in Yemen are such regional allies of Iran, which can push the Sunni states in one camp, even if these states were previously organised based on completely different logic, such as hostility against Israel.

There is a saying among the ambassadors accredited to Israel that every one of them lived through at least one war. For me, this was Operation Protective Edge, during which missiles were launched against Israel for fifty days from the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli opinions that I have encountered, after the Syrian war terminates, it is only a matter of time until Hezbollah will turn against Israel.

The rocket arsenal of Hezbollah is larger than that of NATO; it possesses such a quantity of rockets that it could present a challenge to the Israeli missile defence system. Therefore, the Israelis are preparing for an unavoidable war in the North. In this region, one must live with wars, even diplomats. The most important mission of Israel is self-defence and it operates according to a “simple” military doctrine; it retaliates each and every attack. If a missile is launched towards Israel, be it from Syria, or the Gaza Strip, the armed forces of Israel, mainly its air force, is able to protect it against any type of attack. It is aided by the strategic agreement with the United States, which provides billions of dollars of aid. It can maintain its military industrial complex, so it can counter any threats and provide a strategic ally for the United States.

To summarise, how do you see the development of the relations of the two states?

I would conclude with a personal remark.

When I arrived to Israel, I realised how much I do not know history. I was brought up during the sixties; I am a member of the postHolocaust generation and we hardly learned anything about what exactly happened during the Second World War. I came to understand this issue. I believe that the Hungarian Holocaust is a huge tragedy in the relationship of the two countries. Understanding this pain, most people, on the other hand, , try to build positive bridges; I am also building this type of bridges in economy, culture, and politics.

The task of our generation is to know this pain and try to focus on positive initiatives and organise events which enable cooperation.

The Dohány Synagogue, Europe’s largest Jewish sacred building

Tel Aviv, Israel economic centre

My experience is that there is a huge potential in this cooperation, and we do not know about each other in many areas. Most of the Israelis focus on Western Europe and America; Hungarians do not necessarily consider realising joint projects, such as academic cooperation, with Israelis instead of others either. When such a cooperation launches, both sides realise that there is a huge amount of untapped potential in this field.

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HUNGARY AND ISRAEL: WHAT CONNECTS US Interview with Zsolt Németh, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament

Photo: Endre Vessey

Based on your experience, what role does Israel play in Hungarian foreign policy?

As many Hungarian citizens have relatives and friends in Israel, and the number of our citizens is growing here, we are directly interested in Israel’s security and the stability of the Middle East. Our approach has always put the emphasis on human security, since it is a central value in Judeo-Christian culture.

Secondly, Israel is a very important partner for Hungary when it comes to economy and technology. The Hungarian Jewish culture plays an important role in Hungarian culture – Europe’s third largest, a hundred thousand strong Jewish community lives here – with the State supporting the maintenance and reproduction of Jewish culture. The existence of Israel in general and cultural relations and exchanges are therefore important to Hungary.

Each year, we receive more and more students from Israel at Hungarian universities. We can witness a Jewish renaissance in Budapest, with music and cultural festivals, the 2019 12

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European Maccabi Games etc. I believe the Hungarian Jewry feels itself home in Hungary.

I do not want to portray a perfect picture, but Jews live under good conditions, they do not have to make Aliya motivated by fear or force, but their culture is getting stronger, and it is a key component of the society. For us, this community is always a benchmark, when we make decisions, we value their opinion.

It is also true vice versa; the Hungarian Jewish culture is an important component of the broader Jewish culture – with the two hundred thousand strong Hungarian speaking community in Israel. Therefore, Israel must also be interested in its relations with the Hungarian Jewry living in many countries, but predominantly in the Carpathian Basin.

Our shared task is the fight against antiSemitism. It is an existential obligation for Israel, but also for Hungary. It is a destabilising phenomenon which creates breaches in the society. Therefore, it is our national interest to fight against it, and we consider Israel as a vital ally. We must dedicate more attention to this task because of the profound societal transformations in Europe.

How do you evaluate the development of the diplomatic relations between Hungary and Israel in the twenty-seven years since the reestablishment of the relations?

It might be more relevant than my opinion how the local Jewry evaluates the relationship.

It is most telling that they consider the development of the relations as a success story. This is supported by the fact that Hungary has always stood up for Israel everywhere in the international arena. From a broader perspective, I must say that, since the inception of Israel – which also had Hungarian elements, – our diplomatic relations were positive when Hungary had a degree of sovereignty in its foreign policy.

We immediately established relations with the new state, and when we lost the Soviet pressure we re-established the connection. I had a mutually good personal relationship with Ambassador Ilan Mor, and we were often each

other’s guests. He is originally a military man, he never engaged in obfuscation, therefore we always discussed in a straightforward manner what could constitute a disagreement between our countries.

Events such as the Wallenberg Year in 2012, which offered comprehensive programmes countrywide, showed Hungary in a very positive light and Amb. Mor participated actively in them. This was generally true wherever he was present. Ilan Mor was always very well-informed, but I am proud that we could deliver a little surprise to him with the restauration of the Synagogue in Beregszász in which I had some part. I think our cooperation was fruitful, with me being a Minister of State for Foreign Policy and President of the Committee of Foreign Affairs. I will always remember him fondly and I look forward to cooperating with his successor, I think it won’t be hard to re-establish connection.

According to your impressions, how do they see Hungary and the Visegrad states from Israel?

As it was mentioned before, Hungary is the centre for the Carpathian Basin’s Jewry. Not only in Ukraine, but also in Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia, we spend on maintaining the cultural treasures of the Jews. This fact elevates us even in the Visegrad framework.

We see them not only as Jews, but also as Hungarians, and they also see us as their Homeland.

global trends. Israel’s influence, its experience, and competences in security policy offer us important insights.

Israel is exceptional in providing an example for maintaining relations with national diasporas on a global scale. This naturally has practical reasons, as diasporas can do a lot for the motherland, but it is first of all a moral question: Israel sees that the connection to the homeland is an emotional issue for the world Jewry. We, Hungarians, are in a similar position; many of our compatriots live around the world (many of them are part of the Jewish and the Hungarian diaspora at the same time).

Therefore, we can learn a lot from Israel in this regard.

Where can the relationship between Israel and Hungary be deepened to serve strategic Hungarian interests?

I have mentioned many issues, so let me repeat our common list of areas, which we are aiming to develop: primarily the culture, education, innovation, economy, and agriculture. Apart from Israeli capital and investment, Hungary is also a touristic target, and for that we are very happy. To summarise, this direction is strengthening our relationship and friendship.

Which are the most important Israeli trends in politics and security that are relevant for Hungary?

There are many similarities in the nature of the two states, which suggests to look for areas of cooperation, particularly in technology and culture. These are fields in which we can gain international prestige. The most important of them is the security policy aspect. Israel is different from Hungary in a way that, while it is a small country, it has a huge influence on world politics. It is not only a key actor in the Middle East, but also shapes the direction of INTERVIEWS

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ISRAEL’S ROLE IN THE CHANGING WORLD ORDER Interview with HE Yossi Amrani, Ambassador of the State of Israel to Hungary

You have mentioned in one of your public lectures that Israel has a new priority, becoming not only a technological and military superpower, but also a diplomatic great power. May I ask you to elaborate on this new diplomatic strategy?

I think that the use of the term, superpower, is misplaced, I don’t think anyone should define or declare themselves as “super” in any aspect.

What I was trying to say in this lecture, what is becoming an emerging perception or concept in Israeli foreign policy, is that any country should really invest in four major strengths.

The first one is human resources, quality of education, and social coherence. Even if we discuss multicultural societies, melting pots, 14

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the idea is to maintain certain social cohesion.

Something should unite the nation along certain credos and certain basic beliefs. The human aspect, the human strength is the foundation of national security. The other would be economic strength. It is the economy, it is the standard of living, the quality of life which allows investment in education, science, and culture. Therefore, becoming economically strong is important, and Israel has gone through revolutions, and I think Israel is undergoing a revolution also now.

Economy is important to enable the government, the country to maintain its agenda, to finance it, but it is also important as part of your relevance in the international community, and we are now talking about a term which is important in any strategic thinking, which is relevance. Countries are trying to reinvent themselves or they need to reinvent their relevance. So the economy is the second strength.

The third is the military, which in some countries is more acute and in some countries it is less acute. I would not compare the importance of military strength in Europe or in Hungary for that matter to the need for military strength in Israel or in the Middle East. In an unstable region, in a turbulent era, Israel needs to be strong. How strong? That is a different debate, but investing in military power or in strengthening the country is important, but does military power mean strategic value or strategic relevance or strength for a country? I wouldn’t go that far. Sparta is such a historic example, you can be a military superpower, and still lose your battles. For Israel, it is a complex of four pillars, four legs, and the military is just the third, not the first.

The first is the person the society, the second is the economy, the third is the military, and the fourth is the international legitimacy, or I would say the role or the status of any country in the international arena. Countries need legitimacy.

Countries are fighting for legitimacy, and the tool for that is diplomacy. So in the aforementioned lecture, I was trying to emphasise the importance of diplomacy to Israel’s national security. In assessing Israel’s diplomatic strength, we cannot ignore all the changes in the region, we cannot ignore the changes in the world arena, the shifts

in power in world affairs, and the new terms of reference in diplomacy. Now diplomacy is partly public diplomacy, partly branding, partly social media. You can win the heart of the New York Times, but its value is limited compared to what it used to be in the past. The op-ed or the editorial page of the New York Times is important, as they reflect a way of thinking, but less important now in their impact on public opinion, because now on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media, you have more direct contact and influence on shaping public opinion.

The other aspect of diplomacy is the balance of power. We do not live any longer in a world where there is only one superpower or only one major power. Israel needs to be aware of global changes, and certain changes are not the result of your own policies, but you must adapt your policies to those changes. We still don’t know where the Trump administration would take US foreign policy, but we can definitely see a trend in the last eight to ten years. The pivot to Asia is one aspect, delegating or leading from behind, this is the second policy, and the third is the need for coalitions. This was not only true for the Obama administration, Bush Senior was also into coalition, so you see that the United States – as the major superpower – is either hesitant or careful in using its power after the experience in Afghanistan and Iraq. To what degree or for how long, it is an open question.

The new administration might have a new policy, but in the end any administration has to count with the public opinion, and they have to decide how important it is to use force in certain cases and whether they serve American goals. So, we see changes in the US foreign policy. After the fall of the Soviet bloc, people thought that we live in a unipolar world, where the US is not only the police officer and the banker, but it is also the Mecca of diplomacy. You see that there are new balances in the world, you cannot write off Russia and its role in world affairs, nor can you write off China and its interest, not only in its immediate vicinity, not only in North Korea, South Korea, Russia or Japan, it also has interests in Europe. Chinese products are sold on this continent. China has an interest in stability in Europe, because it has

a market in Europe, which means employment to Chinese people. So, you see a chain reaction here. This is not the globalism we thought about in 1991-1992, you produce in China and it goes somewhere else, it is a different way of looking at globalism, there are major regional powers and a certain balance between them. What does this mean for a country like Israel? It means that we, as close as we will be to the United States, as much as we see eye-to-eye with United States on democracy and other values and aspects of the Judeo-Christian thought, we need to develop a close net of interests and relationships with other countries in the world. This means having a dialogue with Russia, and this is something which has happened in the last 15-20 years.

Relationship between Israel and Russia is becoming closer on strategic issues, because Russia is a player in world affairs, and Russia is a player in the Middle East, and Russian troops are deployed in Syria, which is a neighbour country to Israel. So, can we ignore Russia as a world power? With its history, with its interests, with its preferences? No. This also means looking to Asia. The pivot to Asia is not limited to the United States, and it is not something that President Obama invented.

It is something which started – based on my information – with the Bush administration. In 2006 and 2007, Bush realised that the US should pivot to Asia. I would tell you that Israel had its pivot to Asia since the early nineties. Because of markets and because of the rise of China, and for the reason Asia is in the strategic neighbourhood of Israel. Your strategic vicinity is not just your immediate neighbours, it is much deeper. It is the neighbour of your neighbour that provides security for you. And that leads to an emerging, developing relationship with countries such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and India. Those are Israel’s strategic allies in Asia. So, you see a certain change in choosing your partners, you cannot write off a certain partner just because you don’t have immediate interests, you have to invent them, you have to develop the relationship.

The third aspect is how you maintain a close relationship with countries these days. A part of it, five percent, is the human touch, the INTERVIEWS INTERJÚK

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and tactics, so you have to work with as many partners as you can. What can happen in our backyard can certainly explode in Europe. Also, certain things that happen in Europe can explode in our backyard. This is the volunteers from Europe to Daesh. Strategic cooperation is the basis of stability. The idea at the end is to maintain stability and peace at home and on your borders, and make sure that nothing infiltrates the border back home.

Israeli flag in front of the UN headquarters in New York

The Negev Desert, spanning more than half of Israel’s territory

chemistry between leaders. We don’t require ambassadors anymore to convey diplomatic pouches and messages from one to the other, they can talk directly. But you need ambassadors and embassies to develop interest networks to connect the dots. And what you see right now is the emphasis to build interests. Interest can be built on personal touch, but it will never be enough, as close as leaders can be, interest is an economic cooperation, it is markets, it is sharing know-how and technologies. It is no longer what you can give, it is what you can get from your partner, give and get, it is both ways, it’s a dual track approach. The other element of relations between countries is strategic cooperation. You cannot limit your set of threats to domestic and nearby forces. It can spill over, therefore, you need intelligence cooperation on methodologies 16

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You mentioned during this overview a number of new strategic partners, and we have seen Prime Minister Netanyahu travelling to certain Caucasian, Central-Asian, and Sub-Saharan states. Is this a “New Peripheral Alliance”?

What is the overarching aim of Israel’s diplomatic opening?

Israel’s policy has always been to intensify and deepen the relationship with as many countries as possible. There is no new strategy, there are new opportunities; a new reality, which creates new opportunities. Part of it is Israeli economy, part of it is the strategic strength Israel enjoys at the moment, and part of it is the timing of certain historic processes and dynamics which are happening all around the world, which allow Israel to become a more significant player in stability and security in and beyond our region.

I wouldn’t say that the strategy is new, it goes back to the end of the fifties and sixties, Israel has always sought alliances. Some of them were right and some of them were wrong. The Suez War was an example of an alliance with shrinking superpowers of the time, without hurting no one’s feelings. The concept is based on a clear reality of the map. The map has not changed. The map is a given. What are changing are the opportunities the map provides, and we need to look at the immediate circle of countries next to Israel; there is a strategic change since the peace with Egypt and Jordan and the Oslo Accords. We are in peace and partnership with Egypt and Jordan, the situation in Syria would not allow such a breakthrough, but our borders are relatively secure. But you have to look beyond the immediate vicinity, and see where any threat can come from against Israel, and you know what I

mean. How do you balance that? You balance that by developing your defence capabilities, and we are doing that, and you are balancing with the diplomatic pillar. Since relationships are based on interest, you need to develop interest with other countries that may balance certain aspects. If you have an enemy 2000 miles from your borders with a presence on your border, what you need is a diplomatic shield which provides you with strategic depth. Beyond missiles and weapons, strategic depth. Your enemy’s neighbour is your best friend, or should be your best friend. And this is the concept of Peripheral Partnerships.

There is a widespread debate among Israeli politicians regarding the normalisation of relations with the Sunni Arab states (primarily Saudi Arabia). Could regional peace with these states come before settling the IsraeliPalestinian conflict?

Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an interest of Israel and the Israeli nation, for Israel’s stature in the region and beyond. The calls we issue regularly for direct negotiations without preconditions are not a lip service. This truly reflects the strategic interest of Israel, and the Prime Minister is very clear on this issue.

Unfortunately, at the moment, we do not see any willingness on the Palestinian side to embark on any constructive negotiation and futile efforts in the last twenty years to negotiate with the Palestinians prove that maybe the Palestinian leadership is incapable to make that historic decision. Any resolution of the conflict would involve a compromise on both side. For the Palestinians, this is recognising the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish democratic state, meaning no right of return, meaning the character is one of a Jewish state, putting an end to the conflict is the issue. How you put an end to the conflict? The idea is not to have another immediate agreement, the idea is to put an end to the conflict.

You correctly ask whether putting an end to one conflict would solve another in the Middle East.

It depends on our expectations, it depends on our goals. If we would like to develop deeper, more normalised relationships, then resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is crucial. Is it

really important to have open borders at this time in the Middle East? I am not sure. Do we need a Schengen in the Middle East? Do we expect the Israeli philharmonic to play any time soon in Damascus, is it really important? It’s a food for thought. I would limit and narrow my expectations.

We need to have first political understanding, strategic cooperation, and economic exchanges.

Mutual or joint ventures on infrastructure. And only with time, through historical process we will have closer people to people relations. I’m not giving up on normalisation, I’m just saying that normalisation, as the name says, takes time, it takes a process. Therefore, as important the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is, I’m not sure this is the only reason why we still don’t have closer people to people relations than we have at the moment and we have peace with Egypt for 40 years now and still things are not happening.

There is an understanding on the political level and there is ongoing understanding on the strategic and military level beginning on certain economic cooperation at least on infrastructure gas energy issues like that. But people to people?

That may take time. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is important, but its impact is taken out of proportion, but that doesn’t mean that we should not make as much effort as possible to resolve it.

Cooperation between countries is based on interest and a reality check. So, when you see what is happening with your neighbours, when you are aware of your economic situation, when you understand where your country is, it is then when you look for partners. I think as a result of what has happened in the Middle East since the Arab Spring, in a way because of domestic processes, economic needs, natural growth, population growth and changes in the international arena, changes in the US foreign policy, countries in the region are looking for partners and they looked for partners within the region and they found one. Reliable, trustworthy, cooperative. This is an important development, because it prepares the ground for the next phase. Schengen in the EU is a result of thousands of years of European history with so many wars. Somehow, the Europeans are less patient when it comes to the Middle East, but it takes time.

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How would you evaluate Israel’s relations with the European Union, which is, on the one hand, your most important economic partner, on the other, the diplomatic relations seem to be strained. Do you see a future where Israel would move closer to Europe? What would a “privileged partnership” look like?

The EU is not a static organisation, and it faces major challenges, mostly from within, but also from outside. There is the vision of the European dream of a federal Europe, and you are right, as a federal Europe, it is Israel’s largest partner.

But if you analyse separately the 28 countries, there is a different story. Economic interests are not just Israeli interests, they are European interests as well, and who is better to testify to make political decisions than European countries, when it comes to countries which suffer economic sanctions. Economy is an important factor in European foreign policy decision-making. So, as much as Europe is an Israeli interest, Europe should develop a new understanding of how important a stable Israel is to European stability.

The European approach to Israel is rooted in history, in images, and a certain hypocrisy.

Definitely, Israel is asked, expected to act upon a different set of values than what Europe has set up for itself or others. We Israelis look up to Europe because of historic and cultural reasons; we see ourselves as partners of Europe. The future of the relationship depends more on European understanding of Israel in a stable Middle East than on European expectations to apply a certain policy, which is highly regarded by certain people in Europe. It is also important to mention that Europe has never been made of one cloth and there has always been this inherent tension between the bilateral aspect of relationship with Europe and the multilateral aspect. And the world needs a strong Europe, but Europe should put its own house in order, and should follow a certain code of conduct which should be true for Israel and others. You cannot apply a certain set of rules upon Israel and in a similar case a different set of rules for another country, and I would not go into more specific details than that. The quality and warmth of the relationship depend on a new code of conduct 18

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applied by Europe in its treatment of Israel. How come Europe has such a moderate language in most international cruises, and when it gets to Israel, it is so emotional. Maybe Europe should ask itself why it is so emotional about Israel. It is a legitimate question, and I am not trying to antagonise, or to pass any criticism, I’m asking why Europe is so obsessed with Israel. You can see the region through different lenses, a strong Israel, democratic Israel, very ethical by any criteria, both the country and the government, and then the European interference in the domestic policies in Israel, judgement of Israeli policies, and the language. You can judge that this is okay, but when it gets to our sovereign territory, this is our decision how to run this country, I may sound familiar to you, because some European leaders make the same statement. They are wondering what authority Brussels would have to decide for sovereign countries regarding their future.

When it comes to our future, our sovereignty, we will be making the decisions. We are not a client of Europe, we are not a colony of Europe, and we can be partners in culture, science (like the Horizon 2020 programme), in economic cooperation, but most importantly strategically.

Because if Europe would look at carefully what has happened in the last twenty years, it would see there is only one stable partner in the Middle East, and this does not mean that we would be a European mercenary, don’t get me wrong. It is about partnership and understanding how to tackle crisis in the Middle East, where to invest European funds, how to make the Middle East better. How to bring transparency in governance to the Middle East, instead to preaching to different countries about certain values which have also been tested in Europe.

Would this change with a right-wing turn in European politics? Generally speaking, the European left was more critical of Israel and the right was more understanding.

It is not a question of right or left. I would not like to see this in terms such as right wing-left wing; these ideologies have to be defined, and I’m not sure those outdated terms are applicable any longer. What is applicable is that Europe

is facing certain challenges, and it needs new answers. Maybe the answers of the classical right and left would not be enough. There are certain domestic political developments in Europe, I will not make comments on different political elections and interfere, I will just say that Europe needs to come up with certain answers for itself, on economic growth, population, democracy, borders, neighbours, and what is Europe’s mission in the world. Europe believes that it has a certain mission in the world, at least in its immediate neighbourhood. You have to ask yourself whether you have been effective in that mission of yours and to what degree and how you can be more assertive and effective. You are very assertive, very vocal on certain issues, but is Europe effective? The same rule which applies to any country applies to Europe as a union.

Strength is social, demographic, ethnic strength at home, it is not about ethnicity, it is the cohesion of the society, and that is aspect number one.

Aspect number two is the economic strength.

Europe is facing certain economic challenges, unresolved since 2008, it is no coincidence that Europe is now talking about equipping itself, building military. Europe relied on NATO, on the Americans, and relied on values. The world is excellent, and there is no need for military. Really?

This is a very limited perspective. Diplomatically, you are far ahead, but you have to accompany diplomatic assertiveness with other strengths.

The European Union celebrated the nuclear deal between the P5+1 and Iran as a development which will stabilise the Middle East, despite the fact that Iran is continuing with its ballistic missile programme. Israel’s national security strategy focuses on three major, very different kind of threats, namely Iran, asymmetrical conflicts against Hezbollah and Hamas, and radical Sunni terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State.

What is Israel’s approach to these widely differing threats?

You have mentioned in the beginning of your question the nuclear deal with Iran as a European success, I would say that it was an Iranian success. Europe was part of the P5, which is

definitely an Obama administration strategic effort, since he assumed power, reaching an agreement with Iran had been an interest of the American administration. The test of this agreement is yet to come, beyond the time limit of ten to fifteen years, and it much depends on Iranian behaviour. And you have not ignored the recent Iranian ballistic missile tests. This has to be mentioned without diving deeper into the Iran deal. On the strategic level, besides developing, investing in your national strength, and I would once more emphasise that national strengths are multi-layered, it is not just one strength; if you are strong, you are relevant. You don’t have to be militarily proactive or blatant in using military force. Strength is measured by different criteria in 2017. The other aspect of foreign policy is alliances. There are traditional, historic, and value-based alliances that are for the long term.

That does not exclude the possibility of short term alliances, which hopefully would develop into strong relationship in the future. And the important aspect is “trust but verify” ala Ronald Reagan.

You cannot judge your partners according to your own criteria. There are certain red flags which should not be crossed. There is room for the moral aspect, for international law, for ethics in international affairs, in politics in general, but the core message is that to maintain stability, you need to have partnerships. Look what happened in Libya. There was stability with someone called Gaddafi, he was the last barrier for Europe in front of the refugees. There was short-sightedness.

Europe cooperated with Gaddafi for decades, but suddenly Europe decided that Gaddafi was a ruthless despot. Who’s paying the price? This is realpolitik. You cannot be too selective, in some cases you have to see the bigger picture. This is true for leaders, for countries, and for diplomats; this is the core aspect of diplomacy, try to see every factor, and try to interconnect them into one policy. Does that mean I would have the same policy towards country X, Y, and Z? No. With each country, you have to develop certain common language on partnership, based on common interest.

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Will these partnerships translate, as Prime Minister Netanyahu has outlined, into a future in which the United Nations becomes more understanding towards and supportive of Israel?

This is a goal, this is definitely something which we have to work towards; this is part of Israeli diplomacy. I would not say this is a dream, this is a dream which may come true. Will it come true in the next General Assembly or in the next five or ten years? You see certain change in the Israeli status in the world. You have seen it after Resolution 2334, you have seen in the recent foreign affairs council of the European Union.

Does that mean that things are better for us?

No. We would have to struggle again and again, and gain partnerships. In foreign policy, it is not only what you do, but what your partners do.

What your friends need, and creating a common ground. Certain diplomatic achievements are not only the results of Israeli diplomacy, but are the results of our partner’s diplomacy of finding common ground and common interests. In the end, everything in life and everything in politics is about interests. The importance of diplomacy lies in inventing, identifying, and creating interests for countries to support you. It is not because of the beauty of our eyes, it is because you serve the interests of others. I’m sorry that I sound so practical and so cynical, but there is certain cynicism in world affairs.

How does the changing climate and harshening weather condition affect relations in the Middle East?

We have an encroaching desertification in the Middle East. I remember growing up with two major sandstorms coming from the West, the Maghreb, and now we have sandstorms coming from Syria. Part of the challenges is to keep our inhabited world safe, and fighting certain environmental threats that requires cooperation among countries. The European Union started with the Coal and Steel Community, in the Middle East we have to identify certain aspects of life which may connect us, that’s the first foundation of peaceful coexistence. It is infrastructure, because we do not need to invest in the same 20

INTERVIEWS

things in each country, Israel has huge water desalinisation facilities. This can provide water to Jordan and the Palestinians, we can use it more for cooperation and peace.

Israeli natural gas will be sold to the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, and Egypt. Instead of building pipes to export it to anywhere, the region should come first, and Israel should be part of the region.

There is a certain network in the Gulf for regional water management, and Israel is a part of it; we should cooperate more on those issues. There is joint crisis management operation, which are crucial, as the great fires we had recently in Israel were not the first, and will not be the last. We had planes helping us from Croatia and Ukraine, but we need to develop a regional cooperation, so when there is a fire in country X, countries around it, whether they have diplomatic relations or not, should cooperate. This is where international effort should be invested, building the basis of cooperation, which should eventually lead to peace.

Global changes and global threats, like changes in the weather, are the key for future cooperation.

Europe is asking itself how it can make a difference, well this is where it can! Helping us to learn from your experience. The love affair between France and Germany is a phenomenon of the last seventy years. So, what do Europeans want from us? Remember your history, and I’m sorry to remind you of your own history all the time.

TERRITORIAL DIVISION OF ISRAEL

Israeli territory according to the 1949 ceasefire agreement

Territories conquered by Israel in 1967

Territories annexed by Israel

Territories under Hamas’ rule

Israeli military administration

WELCOMING WORDS

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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

IN THE CROSS SECTION OF CONTINENTS Although the land of Israel belongs to Asia without question, it maintains intensive, interdependent relations with Africa and Europe as well because of its geographical position.

For millennia, the struggle for control over the territory persisted from ancient to contemporary times, as it is the buffer zone between the great powers of the three neighbouring continents.

In the ancient times, it was pillaged during the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian conquests, and later Persian, Greek and Roman armies fought over the region. During the Crusades, the Christian kingdoms’ forces clashed with Muslim armies, aiming to conquer Jerusalem.

After the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, in the end of the First World War, the British Empire could expand its control over Israel. As the global great power was reaching its dusk, it used this territory to support its Indian holdings.

For millennia, countless peoples and political entities tried to maintain control of this strip of land, which, apart from being a geopolitical intersection, emerged as the sacred land of the three Abrahamic world religions.

The Jewish people evolved from a Polytheistic tribal society into the first Monotheistic nation on Earth at this location. Their faith distinguished them from other Canaanite communities and later enabled the assimilation of others into the Jewish ethnoreligious group. A thousand years before the Common Era, three consecutive Jewish kings ruled, but territorial unity and complete sovereignty turned out to be a short period in Israelite history. The Solomonic peak era was followed by internal division, which still created the opportunity for Jewish sovereignty – albeit to a warrying degree – over the land for another millennium. In CE 132, an unsuccessful revolt against the Roman Empire put an end to 22

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the Jewish political entity, and dispersed the Israelites into all direction.

Members of the Jewish communities of the three neighbouring continents (and after the Age of Exploration, Americas’ as well) live together once again in Israel ̶ not alone, as a quarter of Israel’s eight and a half million inhabitants are not Jewish. Furthermore, the West Bank, which is under Israeli military administration, is the home of two and half million Palestinians. Israel is a curious mixture of the three continents in political and societal terms as well. The country, as in past eras, serves as a bridge for religions, cultures, peoples, and spheres of economic and military influence, while it has emerged as a significant regional power by itself as well. As such, the fate of Israel will influence the future of the “World Island” in the 21st century.

Siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (Painting by David Roberts, 1850)

Jerusalem portraid as the geographical and teological centre of the world in Heinrich Büntig’s “The World in a clover-leaf” map, 1581)

A QUEST FOR STRATEGIC DEPTH Regarding the legal basis of Israel’s existence, we must highlight the Partition Plan, the United Nation General Assembly’s Resolution 181. The plan was adopted on 29 November 1947 by a great majority of the member states. The proposal envisioned three Jewish enclaves, hardly connected in geographic terms, in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, which would have made the country indefensible. The leaders of the Yishuv, the Jewish community of the Mandate, with David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister at the forefront, accepted the Partition Plan, since a homestead had to be created for the Jews, just emerging from the horrors of the Second World War. On 14 May 1948, in the basement of a quite unremarkable building in Tel Aviv, standing below the portrait of Theodor Herzl, , Ben-Gurion, born in today’s Budapest, declared the independence of the State of Israel, as the British forces withdraw from the mandate after losing India. On the day after the declaration of independence, the new country was attacked by the Arab states, as none of them accepted the Partition Plan. In the coming year, Israel not only defended its

Ben-Gurion announces Israel’s independence

territory, but it was able to largely expand it.

Israeli forces conquered all territory from the Southwestern side of the Golan Heights until the Red Sea, apart from the Eastern portion of Jerusalem, and the territories of the region which are known today as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire agreement concluding the First Arab-Israeli War or in Israeli terminology, the War of Independence, therefore, created a much more defensible country, but the Arab population leaving the new state during the war also planted the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel established its rule over additional territories during the 1967 Six Day War, which started with an Israeli pre-emptive strike against the Egyptian-Syrian forces preparing for war, while it made unsuccessful attempts to convince Jordan to stay out of the conflict.

In the end, although squeezed from three sides, Israel conquered the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, with the latter serving as a natural fortress. The additional Arab population, which came under Israeli control once again, exacerbated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the new population, unlike the Arabs living in Israel in 1949, did not get Israeli citizenship, but came under Israeli military administration until the disputed territories’ fate is not settled.

Iconic photo by David Rubinger of the Israeli soldiers conquering East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

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BREAKING OUT FROM REGIONAL ISOLATION Strategic depth is significant for Israel not only from a geographic perspective. The first breakthrough was achieved by the complex political manoeuvring of Anwar Sadat, who became the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt after the passing of Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Egypt and Syria mounted a surprise attack against Israel in 1973. During the so-called Yom Kippur War, Israel could not have turned the tide of the war without the emergency arms transfer from the United States. In the end, although by the final stage of the war Israeli forces were advancing on Cairo and Damascus, the Jewish state’s population and leadership was shocked by the vulnerability of their country.

Sadat offered the chance of peace after the war, and, after his historic visit to Jerusalem, he developed a warm, almost a brothers-in-arms relationship with the Right wing Israeli Premier, Menachem Begin. To return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, a peace treaty was signed between the former enemies. Egypt pulled itself out from the Soviet orbit, secured American military aid, and Israel was not threatened anymore by being surrounded by enemies.

The end of the Cold War brought the chance for a large-scale diplomatic opening for Israel. With the disintegration of the Socialist bloc, Israel not only achieved greater freedom of manoeuvring in the international arena, but the remaining hostile Arab Socialist states, such as Syria, Iraq and Libya, lost their superpower backer. In the post-bipolar world order, Israel, the Arab states, and the Palestine Liberation Organization moved into the direction of normalising their relations through the Madrid Conference and the Oslo Process. The peace process only achieved partial successes until the end of the millennium. The peace treaty with the Jordanian Kingdom (1994) was highly important for Israeli strategic objectives, in addition to the limited Palestinian autonomy in certain areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

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The first decade of the new millennium led to the eroding of Israel’s relations with many of its diplomatic partners. The largest setback was the fallout with Turkey, with which Israel enjoyed strategic level cooperation, and the Gaza Strip became a constant source of tension and conflict after the 2007 Hamas takeover.

The militant-terrorist Hezbollah in Lebanon also became a challenge for the state, which peaked during the war of 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah, with the latter having been supported by Syria and Iran.

From enemies to brothers in arms: from the left, Menachem Begin Israeli Prime Minister, Jimmy Carter President of the United States and Anwar Sadat President of Egypt during the signing ceremony of the Camp David Accords

Yitzhak Rabin with King Hussein of Jordan at the signing of the peace treaty

THE DAWN OF A NEW MIDDLE EASTERN ORDER The so-called ‘Arab Spring,’ which erupted in 2010, has also opened a new chapter in Israel’s foreign relations. Societal transformations shook Israel’s geostrategic environment, abolished hostile, yet stabile relations with many Arab states, apart from Egypt and Jordan. The largest shift was presented by the Syrian and the Iraqi civil wars, as the emergence of the Islamic State and the power vacuum has activated the regional great powers.

Emphasis has turned towards fighting radical Sunni jihadist movements, and the Sunni-Shia power struggle became more overt in the region.

Within these new circumstances, Israel is less of a potential enemy for the Sunni Arab states, which, during the previous decades, came to reluctantly accept the existence of Israel. The first tangible

result of the new order was the Turkish-Israeli agreement in 2016 solving their dispute. Distance between the two regional great powers grew, as Turkey put its weight behind the Palestinian issue to enhance its position in the Arab world, but in these new turbulent times, the predictable, albeit limited, cooperation between Israel and Turkey seemed like an anchor of stability once again.

We cannot expect the resumption of the strategic cooperation with such an intensity as during the nineties, but a more favourable Turkish position can further Israel’s aim to develop the Palestinian economy through investments.

The security of Israel is deeply affected by its relations with its largest neighbour, Egypt.

Relations between the two countries remained rather cold even after the signing of the peace agreement in 1979; intensive cooperation in the field of security was coupled with lacklustre collaboration in the areas of economy and society.

Projects aiming for deeper engagement have failed, such as the natural gas exports from Egypt, which were constantly sabotaged in the Sinai Peninsula by the worsening security situation. It

Istanbul, Sultan Ahmed Mosque INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

25

would have meant a grave challenge for Israel if Egypt, led by the Muslim Brotherhood from 2013, as President Mohamed Morsi threatened, would have cancelled the peace agreement with Israel. Israeli perception of security would have had to return to being surrounded by two armies from the South and the North, combined with the asymmetrical threat presented by Hamas and Hezbollah. Yet Morsi did not fulfil this threat, which would have created a huge international backlash, and the subsequent counterrevolution led by the Egyptian army against the Muslim Brotherhood rule guaranteed a new government favourable to Israeli geostrategic interests. The more intensive security cooperation under the Al-Sisi administration hopefully leads to economic cooperation as well. It is in Israel’s national interest to aid the Egyptian economy to provide employment for the rapidly-expanding population of its largest neighbour.

The Gulf Arab monarchies and Morocco became interested in pragmatic cooperation with Israel.

This tendency was strengthen by the common economic and environmental challenges and the

Sunset over Jerusalem 26

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growing intensity of the power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which is conducted on the territory of Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.

Open cooperation cannot be started before the settling of the Palestinian question, according to the stance of the Sunni Arab states. The current situation is still a huge advancement compared to the state set by the Khartoum Resolution adopted by the Arab states after 1967 war, which said that they would not recognise Israel at all. The Arab League, primarily due to Saudi Arabia’s efforts, opened a new diplomatic horizon with the Arab Peace Initiative which offered full normalisation of relations between Israel and the Arab states, if a final status agreement with the Palestinians would be signed. Because of the inflexibility of the conditions, Israel did not respond to the initiative but on 31 May 2016 both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defence Avigdor Lieberman conveyed a positive message regarding the plan. The convergence of the interests of the Sunni Arab states and Israel has brought the prospect of peace into the turbulent region.

ISRAEL’S RELATIONS BEYOND THE MIDDLE EAST During the UN Partition Plan voting, the large majority of states accepted the establishment of the Jewish state. On the other hand during the Cold War, Israel lost the connection with the Socialist and non-aligned countries because of the Arab-Israeli wars; later in 1979, Iran also cut diplomatic relations. The process had a positive shift after the end of the Soviet Union, as all former Eastern European countries established diplomatic ties with Israel, and it currently enjoys relations with 158 of the world’s countries. Israel is a beneficial partner in terms of modern water management, agricultural methods, solar energy, and other knowledge intensive industrial sectors. Its role cannot be underestimated in counterterrorism and the fight against radical Middle-Eastern movements, thanks to its effective national security agencies and advanced military. A new milestone was set in 2016, when NATO countries decided to invite Israel to open an office at its headquarters in

Brussels, thereby promoting the cooperation for a stable Middle East.

Israel has a strategic cooperation with the European Union and the economic and military support offered by Germany must be also highlighted. The EU is Israel’s most important trade partner, it is highly symbolic that it is the only non-member state enjoying full membership in the Horizon 2020 innovation framework of the Union. When it comes to the integration, Greece and Cyprus plays a particularly important role as the “axis of stability” in the Eastern Mediterranean, and also this relationship aids the extraction of the significant hydrocarbon reserves discovered in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The renewed contacts with the “non-aligned” countries gave the opportunity for Israel to diversify its economic and trade relations, first of all with China, as the its hunger for technology

Greek-Israeli joint navy exercise INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

27

Israel’s gate to the world, the port of Haifa

is driving economic relations forward. Israel welcomed the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, which it sees as a stabilising factor in the Middle East. The advanced military industrial complex of Israel offered the opportunity to develop intensive arms and military technology trade with the Republic of Korea and India, a process which does not challenge the global position of the United States.

While economic relations with the East Asian countries may cover the losses caused by the European financial meltdown of 2008, they cannot overtake the security guarantees provided by the United States. This commitment from Washington overarches subsequent administrations, it manifests itself in the robust military aid the US provides, and the quasialliance between the two states, in case an aggressor would attack the Jewish state. It is important to underline, however, that there is no formal alliance between the US and Israel, even though the rhetoric of the two country’s leaderships would suggest the existence of such a pact, and yet half of all military aid is dedicated 28

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to Israel (not counting the cost of US troops stationed overseas, which Israel does not have).

Even though the Israeli army is considered to be one of the most technologically advanced and capable military forces on the globe, the relative lack of strategic depth makes it obligatory to have a great power guarantor of its security.

For this reason, Israel’s accommodation to the transatlantic alliance cannot be replaced by any other method.

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THE HEBREW CALENDAR AND NOTABLE DAYS IN 2017 WELCOMING WORDS

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SOCIETY

A MULTIMULTICULTURAL SOCIETY The sole piece of information many possess regarding Israeli society is that Jews and Arabs live side by side in this country. While this is true, it takes both peoples as monolithic entities, which cannot be farther from the truth. The Jewish people, which, unlike European nations, is not only an ethnic group, but a so-called ethnoreligious group, which is unique in Europe, although many such groups live on the globe. In Israel, the Druze community, or the internationally the better known example, the Sikh people, also have their independent religion.

Connected to the Israeli Jewish community, which makes up 75% of Israel’s citizens, we must underline that at least two thirds of them have at least partial Middle Eastern or North African (Mizrahi, Eastern Jews) origins and one third of them belongs solely to the Ashkenazi, Western group of Jews. Alongside these two main blocs, other, smaller Jewish sub-groups also live in Israel, which have their own special cultural background,

Jewish immigrants arriving to Israel 30

SOCIETY

such as the more than hundred thousand strong Ethiopian Jewish community (Beta Israel) and the Indian Jewry numbering around ten thousand souls. The country’s sociocultural structure is also deeply influenced by the more than one million Jews who emigrated from the former Soviet republics, mostly in the early nineties. Based on religion, Israeli Jewry can be grouped into two main blocs, Ashkenazi (Western) and Sephardic (which literally means Spanish) rites, the latter is followed by the Eastern Jews. We can also separate different understandings of the religion, such as ultraorthodox, religious-Zionist, modern orthodox, and totally secular Jews. Alongside the two main rites, the Ethiopian Jews have their own priesthood and liturgical language. On the state level, only the orthodox interpretation is accepted, but it is important to note that internationally the conservative and reform stream is stronger in various countries, such as the United States, which creates a number of frictions between the two most populous Jewish communities on the globe. It is imperative that the questions of the institutional structure of the Jewish religion will be settled in Israel in the upcoming years. There were a number of initiatives to break the monopoly of the orthodox religious establishment in the fields of marriage, kosher permits, and religious services at the Wailing Wall. On the other hand, it

Jewish Languages

“jampec” (cool dude), “jatt” (tip), “sóher” (scrooge)

“Indeed this is a people that dwells alone and is

local Jewry intermingled with the majority population.

not counted among the nations.” – said Bileam, the Mesopotamian prophet, which demonstrates the uniqueness and separation of the Jewish people.

On the other hand, we may perceive Jews from

an absolutely different perspective, namely as the member of the great family of Semitic nations.

Hebrew is kin to Arabic, the Ethiopian languages, and Maltese. From the Jewish languages, Yiddish is known in Hungary, which was spoken by the

Central European Jewry up until their emancipation, a mixture of Hebrew grammar, letters, and German language. Even after the Hungarianisation of the local Jewry, many Yiddish words remained in use, such as

is a misinformation that Judaism is the state religion of Israel. In reality, three “churches” operate in the state system; the orthodox Jewish, the Sunni Muslim, and Christianity (the Eastern orthodox stream) have state recognition, and a fourth, namely the Druze religious establishment, has its own institutions. This is the status quo which has remained since the Ottoman times, but, of course, the Jewish religion, due to its great share among the citizens, has a much more pronounced institutional framework.

A quarter of the Israeli society consists of nonJewish ethnic and religious communities, which are at least as diverse as the Jewish population. The most populous group is the Sunni Muslim Arabs, a fifth of the population of Israel. Christian Arabs belong to various streams and altogether they are 120.000 strong. They enjoy the lowest poverty rate and highest educational level in Israel, surpassing the Jewish majority. Christian Arab schools are considered to be the best in the country, therefore, many Muslim families try to send their children to Christian educational establishments. A separate group of Muslims are the Bedouin Arabs, mainly living in the Negev desert, and their most severe challenge is urbanisation. The Bedouin culture is originally defined by a travelling lifestyle, and their relocation into the so-called “Bedouin cities” raised a number of political debates. Finally, the

and “mázli” (luck). All around the World Island, the

Ladino is the mixture of Hebrew and Spanish, which was spoken by the Jews of the Ottoman Empire, after

they were expulsed from Spain. Such a mixture was also present in other lands dominated by Muslims, resulting in exotic languages, such as Judeo-Arabic,

Judeo-Malayam, and an array of Judeo-Iranian

languages. In reality, the Jews never dwelt alone, they were an integral part of the surrounding majority

population in some shape or form, be it in the ancestral homeland and the neighbouring Semitic peoples or in exile. The diverse and colourful palette

of Jewish languages represent this dynamism based on tradition and living connection.

Druze community of north Israel, which has around 100.000 members, is Arabic speaking, but they identify as a unique ethnoreligious group. The Arab population of the West Bank does not have Israeli citizenship, therefore, equality of rights should not be considered in terms of a Jewish-Arab divide, but rather in an Israeli-Palestinian dimension.

Druse soldiers at Israel’s Northern borders SOCIETY

31

NATIONAL HOLIDAYS AND CULTURE The Israeli national culture might be summarised with three key statements. First, it is the sole country on Earth in which the Jewish ethnoreligious group form the majority of the population. In legal terms, Israel, as stated in its Basic Law, defines itself as a Jewish and Democratic state. This fact should be further elaborated by underlining that Israeli Jews are a very diverse population, therefore, Israeli holidays consists of both Western and Eastern Jewish holidays. Thirdly, we must not forget about the three main minority religions, namely Sunni Islam, different streams of Christianity, and the Druze religion.

National holidays may be divided into two main groups: holidays connected to the modern country and the Jewish religious holidays.

The first group includes the Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut) which commemorates the declaration of independence in 1948.

This day is unique, as it follows the Day of Remembrance (Yom Ha’Zikaron). During the latter, Israelis suspend their daily activity for a minute to commemorate the fallen ones during the Holocaust and during the wars Israel has fought since its independence. The festivities of the following day are an absolute opposite, on which high achievers receive orders of merit, the flag of the country can be seen everywhere, children play with blue and white toys, and families prepare grilled meet in the parks.

The second group of holidays consists of Jewish holidays, which can be separated into three main blocs: the Spring season includes Pesach, commemorating the exodus from ancient Egypt; the Autumn season of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) followed by the Day of Repentance (Yom Kippur). On this day, traditional leaning Jews fast for 25 hours and ask for forgiveness from those they hurt during the previous year (nowadays usually on phone). This season is closed by 32

SOCIETY

Sukkot, the Festivity of Booths, during which families build straw cottages in their garden or in public spaces and dine, sometimes even sleep there. The tent represents the long years the Jewish people spent in the desert searching for the Promised Land. Finally, the internationally most recognised Jewish holiday is the Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, which is sometimes called the “Jewish Christmas.” In reality, the holiday commemorates a liberation war which ended in sieging the occupied Jerusalem. The War of the Maccabees ended in BCE 165 with the liberation of the country and Jerusalem, and the destruction of a Zeus altar erected in the Second Temple.

To summarise, Jewish religion is a mixture of historical national memory, ethics, and sacred knowledge on the world’s dynamics, different from the other two great Abrahamic world religions, as Judaism is practiced by an ethnoreligious group. Belonging to a nation and religious identity can hardly be separated.

An interesting example representing this fact are the practices of the Ethiopian Jewry, whose ancestors separated from the Jewish demographic core the earliest. Therefore, up until the 20th century, they did not celebrate the Hanukkah, as they basically did not have any knowledge about the liberation war in Israel which happened in the 2nd century BCE. On the other hand, they developed a unique holiday, which was not known by any other Jewish communities around the globe.

Jews of Ethiopia gathered on the holiday of Sigd to pray for the return to Jerusalem and collective forgiveness for their sins. This special holiday is celebrated nowadays on a mountaintop in Jerusalem, and it is one of the national holidays of the Jewish state.

Ethiopian Jewish high priests at the holiday of Sigd in Jerusalem

Israeli family celebrating the Day of Independence

Hungarians in Israel

of thousands. From a Hungarian national strategy

the establishment of the state due to linguistic, cultural,

of the World Island, holds many opportunities. Among

Israelis of Hungarian origin were a special group during

and historical reasons. As the only populous Western Ashkenazi Jewish population, which did not speak an Indo-European language, they were separated

from their Western and Eastern co-religionists, while

emancipation among them resulted in a cultural wealth which has contributed greatly to Israeli literature,

cinematography, music, and science. The so-called “Hungarian mafia� was a known phenomenon at

perspective, this community, as it resides in the heart

its members are Professor Rabbi Daniel Hershkowitz, former President of Bar-Ilan University, Minister of Science and Technology, Yair Lapid, former Minister of

Finance, one of the most popular politicians in Israel, and Merav Michaeli, Knesset member of the Labour

Party. In the field of science, Avram Hershko, Nobel laureate biochemist, is the most renowned.

conservative universities, which meant the clique of Israeli academics of Hungarian origin. Love is a great

force, therefore, Hungarian Israelis nowadays present

both the Western and the Eastern face because of the intense intermarriage dynamics. Israeli citizens having ancestry in the Kingdom of Hungary number hundreds

Yair Lapid, one of the most popular Israeli politicians

SOCIETY

33

Demographic Challenges of Israel As presented in the previous chapter, the country has a very diverse ethnic and religious makeup. According to the oversimplifying view, Israel’s demographic challenge lies in the Arab population, but this statement is not true. The character of Israel is changing, but the percentage of the Arab population is not projected to change. The true challenge resides in the shifts among the Jewish majority, as the traditional secular Jewish bloc is being eroded, and the religious-Zionist and ultraorthodox sectors are becoming more numerous parts of the society. The religious-Zionist group traditionally supports the Israeli right wing

Agricultural kibutz in Northern Israel 34

SOCIETY

parties, while the ultraorthodox community has its own two parties. The latter’s participation in the workforce is traditionally low, and, due to their privileges, few of them serve in the armed forces. Israel’s priority is to encourage the ultraorthodox sector to take a higher role in contributing to Israel’s material needs. The Jewish state must come to terms with the fact that the traditional pioneer-Zionist majority will be overtaken by a more heterogenic Israeli society. Solely along highly developed Democratic values, based on the required common understanding, can Israel be held together during its societal transformation.

RELIGIOUS GROUPS Ultraortodox (Haredi) Religious-nationalist Secular

9%

Christian Arab Druse

Others

(Non - Arab Bahaii etc.)

50%

Muslim

Jewish 4%

Beta Israel

}

% 18

Christian,

15

%

Sacred and Secular Faces of Israel

largest potential market, we usually find meals which

Israel is a diverse country not only because

The symbol of the secular Jewry could be the kibbutz,

of its minority, but Jews themselves are also a heterogeneous ethnoreligious group. Three concepts

represent this phenomenon vividly, the rabbi, kashrut, and the kibbutz. The rabbi is not really a priest in Judaism, since priests could only serve in the First and Second Temple; the synagogues cannot function

instead of the Temple in Jerusalem, as a number of sacred functions cannot be presented in them.

The rabbi is a teacher, who serves to maintain the historical memory of the ethnoreligious community.

There are no two identical rabbis, as different streams

of Judaism offer differing interpretations on how

rabbis should function, take political roles. Moreover, in many streams, women can be rabbis as well. While

in Israel many secular citizens do not interact with rabbis (maybe apart from birth, marriage and death),

the kashrut affects everyone directly or indirectly.

It is not easy to get non-kosher food in Israel, as

kosher meals can be eaten by Muslims as well (as

can be consumed by religious Jews as well.

the production unit rooted in socialist thought.

Traditionally, agricultural production was done in the kibbutz, where the Jewish peasants lived together and shared everything, while building their new homeland. In the early years, as material wealth was

scarce, this practice of sharing was useful, and since

few were experts on agriculture, workers had to be efficiently organised. The kibbutz also served as a

location which was easy to defend, especially before the declaration of independence and, after that,

on the frontiers. As material wellbeing developed, sharing became less inviting. Instead of the kibbutz,

currently we can find moshavs, where land is a private property. Close communities surrounding the

large cities still define Israel, but the memory of the

golden age of the kibbutz is only kept by units using advanced technology in their agricultural, industrial, and touristic enterprises.

both exclude pork, which is considered an unclean animal). Diary and meaty restaurants are present in Israel, as the two cannot be combined according to the kashrut. Therefore, they look for creative solutions

to provide milk substitutes for the coffee and soy cheese for the cheeseburger. As a neighbourhood

gets more secular, more non-kosher restaurants appear, On the other hand, in order to serve the

SOCIETY

35

ISRAELI EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Because of the demographic makeup of the Jewish state, the educational system is also special in Israel. Israeli children can study in four types of schools until their matriculation exam, the first three types teach primarily in Hebrew and the fourth in Arabic. Jewish students are separated alongside their religious practices. Therefore, secular, religious-Zionist, and ultraorthodox schools are available for the children. Alongside the state system, there are special educational units, such as mixed schools for Jewish and Arabic students, and the Christian churches’ schools for Arabs. The latter provide the highest quality of education in Israel, therefore, many Muslim families also strive to send their kids to Christian schools.

A disadvantage of this system is that, while it takes cultural background into consideration, it makes mutual understanding and mixing harder among different Jewish groups and on a higher level between Jewish and Arab citizens.

Influence of the religious political parties in the Knesset also tends to block any steps to transform the curriculum of the ultraorthodox schools aiming to serve better the economic interests of the state, as science has to take a back seat compared to religious studies. A former law which obligated the state to withdraw support from the schools if they did not offer the required scientific knowledge was changed, and the Minister of Education has to decide on each case separately. Another important factor is the teaching of the two official languages, Hebrew and Arabic. Jewish students are obligated to study Arabic from the beginning of the elementary school. Arab students also have to learn Hebrew, but insufficient Hebrew language skills among some Arab communities makes it harder for them to integrate into the 36

SOCIETY

Israeli job market. It is vital that Israeli Jews also develop further their Arabic skills, as it not only promotes mutual understanding in the state, but aids Israeli economic initiatives in the Arab world.

Secondary schools are also the prime venue for military conscription. While in Hungary students think about which university to apply for, in Israel finding the most suitable military unit is the key challenge for the children. The majority of Israeli high school students try to enter a military unit suitable for their skills and ambitions, meeting the particular unit’s physical and mental requirements. Hungarian students make a list of preference for their university programme, while Israelis pick their favourite units in order, and based on a score of 1-100, they are enlisted.

As such, youngsters with outstanding skills in mathematics and programming can enter elite information warfare units of the army, and those boys and girl who possess the best physical capabilities and mental resilience may serve in combat units. One point of friction in Israeli society is that, unlike the large majority of the society, ultraorthodox Jewish, Christian, and Muslim children are not obligated to serve in the army. On the other hand, skipping military service reduces the chances of getting a job with high prestige. Two solutions to this conflict

Einstein and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Albert Einstein Nobel-laureate physicist was an avid supporter of the Zionist cause, although he refused his nomination as Head of State (citing that he is not smart enough).

In his will he gave all income connected to his name to the Hebrew University, which provides a significant income for the renown academic instituion.

Name

MAJOR ISRAELI UNIVERSITIES Bar-Ilan University

Tel-Aviv University

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Ben-Gurion University

University of Haifa

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

30000 23000 21000

18000 13000

1955

1956

1918

1969

1972

1912

Ramat Gan

Tel Aviv

Jerusalem

Beer-Sheva

Haifa

Haifa

City

Founding

Number of students

20000

SOCIETY

37

View of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

are getting more important in the Jewish state.

Firstly, voluntary enlistment is proliferating in Israel, the number of volunteers from the Christian and Muslim Arab communities and ultraorthodox Jews are growing every year.

Primarily, Christian Arabs and Sunni Muslim Bedouin citizens choose this opportunity. Also, those who do not wish to serve in the army may opt for national service, during which they work in hospitals and schools and at police stations.

This possibility is preferred by Muslim, Christian, and ultraorthodox Jewish women. Non-Jews applying for national service has grown from 600 to 4500 on an annual basis in the last six years, which shows that previous hostile attitudes are changing, and a gradual process of integration can be perceived.

Usually, the youth start their university studies after their military service, at the age of twenty to twenty-one. Israel has the third position based on the ratio of citizens possessing third degree education (behind Canada and Russia); 49% of Israelis have a diploma according to the OECD’s statistics from 2014.

Israeli tertiary education cannot offer enough 38

SOCIETY

places in the field of medicine, so thousands of Israelis pursue studies to become doctors abroad. In Hungary, around a thousand Israelis study at Semmelweis University or in Szeged or Debrecen. Universities ask for tuition in all cases, therefore, studying abroad, especially in Eastern Europe, is often a cheaper solution.

Israeli universities serve a key role in innovation, by fostering technology transfer, all major universities have a technology transfer office which aims to develop an ongoing scientific research into a commercialised product or service, bringing income for the university, and serving the legendary Israeli innovation economy. One of the most defining factors of the Israeli mentality is the so-called hutzpa (assertiveness, initiative), which help the development of a researcher-entrepreneur sector that breaks the ivory tower nature of universities and research centres.

Land forces: Personnel: 26.000 professional soldiers, 106.000 conscripted, 400.000+ reserves

Airforce: Personnel: 34.000

Military aircraft: 401 pieces Artillery: 530 pieces

Attack helicopters: 44 pieces

THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES IN NUMBERS

Aerial/Ballistic missile defense: 3 Arrow/Arrow 2 anti-ballistic interceptor systems 10 Iron Dome anti-ballistic interceptor systems 17 MIM-23B I-Hawk surface-toair missile systems

-

Strategic strike forces: 24 Jerico II ballistic missile launchers Unknown number of Jerico III intercontinental ballistic missiles

Armored Personnel Carrier (APC): 1200 pieces

(Source: The Military Balance 2017) Active personnel: 176.500 Reserves: 465.000 Defense budget: 15.9 billion USD

Main Battle Tanks (MBTs): 500 pieces

Navy personnel: 9500

Warships: 25 pieces

Submarines: 5 pieces WELCOMING WORDS

39

SECURITY POLICY

ARMY SECURITY Even though the Israeli army cannot compete in terms of manpower with the global superpowers, the digital revolution has led to the expanding power of the Israel Defense Forces. All Jewish citizens are obliged to serve in the military, exceptions can be made based on religious and moral reasons. Males serve for almost three and females for two years; key formative years are spent to prepare for armed service, which oftentimes takes precedence over university studies in later years. High school students focus on vital talents during their last years, which would be an advantage in enlisting to the preferred army unit, may it be in the physical abilities or particular skills, for example computer/mathematic skills. Alongside Jewish

Israeli infantry at a celebration in Jerusalem 40

SECURITY POLICY

citizens, all males of the Druze and Circassian minority are conscripted, also Sunni Muslim Bedouin men from the Negev Desert tend to enlist voluntarily. Among the first two minority army service is a community requirement, while Bedouins are motivated by the financial and career advantages the army service offers to veterans. Formerly, enlistment was shunned upon among other Muslim and Christian Arabs, but nowadays voluntary enlistment is also rapidly growing among them. A bitter political struggle is waged in Israel regarding the exceptions the ultraorthodox Jews receive from army service, despite the fact that their percentage in the population is expanding.

Israeli politicians do not want to force the broader Arab minority to enlist in the army, but many does want to obligate them to conduct national service during which they would work in hospitals, schools, and community centres.

ISRAELI ARMED FORCES The technological supremacy of the Israeli armed forces is based on the advanced military industrial complex, which can fund its research and development activities solely by intensively exporting the equipment, and simultaneously it maintains a mutually-beneficial cooperation with the civilian innovation sector. The state budget spends significantly on the military, around 6 percent of the GDP, which is four times higher than the average military expenditure in the OECD. Israel is supplied chiefly by the United States with military equipment, which sets the amount of support in ten-year-long framework agreements.

On an annual basis, it provides around 4 billion US dollars for which the Jewish state can

purchase US military equipment. Apart from the regular military aid, the US invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the Israeli missile defence research. It is important also to highlight German support for the rapidly expanding Israeli naval forces. Germany builds Israel’s frigates and submarine forces at a discount price, which serves chiefly to protect the natural gas fields lying under the Mediterranean Sea. Finally, we must mention that Israel is suspected to have a nuclear strike capability. According to most of the internationally recognised security policy experts, Israel built its nuclear arsenal in order to counter a potential supremacy of the Arab states in terms of conventional forces during the Cold War. Israel would conduct this suspected nuclear strike in case the country would be overran by hostile armies and its survival would be doomed. Israel, on the other hand, did not announce officially that it has nuclear bombs, as it follows the policy of “nuclear ambiguity,” it does not confirm nor deny

Last call to the family before a mission

W

% to GDP

Israeli defense budget in international comparison

SECURITY POLICY

41

the possession of these weapons.

The armed forces of the Jewish state went through significant advancement during the last seventy years, as the external security situation has changed. Israel had to organise its armed forces in 1948 from the Jewish militias and selfdefence forces (Palmach, Lehi, Irgun), which had to be capable of stopping the advancing Arab armies. Due to the ineffectively executed aggression of the attackers, Israel was able to expand its territory compared to what it was assigned in the UN Partition Plan, but it still did not possess significant strategic depth. As such, Israeli strategy aims to move the battle to enemy territory as quickly as possible, and to achieve decisive victor rapidly. Both a war conducted on the territory of Israel and also a long-lasting conflict, which has to be maintained outside of its borders, could weaken Israel fatally.

Israeli armed forces were supplied initially by the Soviet Union through Czechoslovakia, later French-British, finally American military equipment was procured to build an army which could defeat Arab armies four times during the Cold War. The military readiness of Israel can only be maintained by having a relatively small standing army (compared to the combined forces of the surrounding countries) which serve as a “tripwire” against invading armies, while its effective mobilisation procedures of its reserve forces gear up its military to maximum war effort.

Israeli society, in spite of all its achievements, is the most militarised nation on the globe (Global Militarization Index 2015). The spine of defence comes from the effectiveness of its reserve forces, which is maintained in the case of males by annual army exercises. Army units

become effective forces through the years spent together in training, while their commanding officers oftentimes are the same age as their children. Israel utilises every advancement of modern technology; the army notifies through SMS the soldiers of the grouping areas., While the leadership continuously tries to reduce the burden, the militarisation of the society will not be reduced, since it does not only serve to counter conventional forces, but it defines the country’s economic, societal, and cultural structure as well. It is an important factor that militia traditions persist, command structures are highly decentralised, and, compared to the other advanced militaries of the world, it is highly informal. The organisation encourages initiatives in order to achieve the military objectives, so these values and the special features of Israeli culture cyclically feed into each other.

The militarised society would not have been sufficient by itself to defeat the surrounding armies, which possessed numerical and strategic superiority; advanced technological capabilities were required. Israel focused on the development of its armoured forces, artillery, anti-air weapons, and strategic strike capabilities are still considered vital. The story of the Merkava tank is symbolic, which is not only one of the most advanced main battle tanks in the world, but Israel is unique in terms of being able to develop and build thousands of such an expensive equipment despite its small size. As the 6 percent of GDP spent on the military would be insufficient, extensive international weapons export to friendly and de facto allied nations supply Israel with the required funds to sustain its qualitative supremacy.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 TOTAL USA USA

Russia Oroszország

Kína

China

France Franciaország Germany Németország

Great Britain Nagy Britannia Israel* Izrael*

8098

9104

9163

7687

10470

10484

6172 8695 8480 8107 5468 5483 42404 1496

1338

1728

2055

1360

1966

9943

898

1752

1025

1511

1734

2013

8932

2745

1349

816

722

1785

2049

9467

1151

1040

934

1645

1644

1214

7627

686

588

481

414

400

710

3280

Arms export in numbers (2010-2015, million USD, source SIPRI Arms Transfers Database) 42

55006

SECURITY POLICY

*Israel is behind Italy, Spain, Ukraine and it is the tenth most important arms exporter together with the Netherlands in the world

GEOSTRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT OF ISRAEL There are three major turning points regarding the changes of Israel’s security environment.

The first new era started with the signing of the peace treaty with Egypt (1979), after which Israel did not have to exist in a geopolitical situation in which it was threatened from all directions, but (also due to the de facto neutrality of Jordan) it could focus on the Syrian front. The second change came as a long process of the easing of the tensions with the Sunni Arab states since the end of the Cold War. After the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, the regional peace did not emerge in the 1990s, but, with the closure of the First Gulf War, the option of a major Syrian-Iraqi military alliance diminished which could have threatened Israel’s existence. After four decades, the Jewish state found itself in a

situation in which no conventional army existed which could have threatened with invasion. The third, albeit negative paradigm shift, occurred with asymmetric threats evolving to the number one position, including terrorism, in Lebanon and Gaza as well, since the Israeli army fought nonconventional armed forces on these fronts. The IDF responded to the changing circumstances by altering its structure; it is reducing the huge number of main battle tanks, altogether creating a smaller but technologically more potent force.

Israel is conducting a full restructuring of the armed forces in the next five years based on the Gideon-plan. The framework shall increase the military’s budget, which, on the other hand, will not be used to create a larger army, but to make the existing one more streamlined. The IDF is making itself more capable in countering asymmetric threats by turning its mass strike artillery into a precision guided one, and, at the same time, it prepares for an armed conflict with Iran, in case the Persian state would walk back on the nuclear deal, and build an atomic bomb which is considered by Israel

F-35 stealth multirole fighter SECURITY POLICY

43

Israeli submarine in the port of Haifa

to be the last remaining existential threat. The greatest challenge of the Israeli army is still the lack of strategic depth, mainly the lack of territory for the air force to manoeuvre. After the deterioration of the Turkish-Israeli relations, the Hellenic countries took over the role of strategic allies. The Jewish state aims to counterweight its unfavourable circumstances in terms of geography with technological knowhow.

While modernising its land forces, the IDF is also restructuring its navy and air force. Israel will be the first country to utilise the most advanced F-35 American fighter jets outside the US in 2018. Even though the Jewish state aimed to purchase a hundred of such jets, it would order only fifty in the first phase of acquisition. Still, this fleet will mean a generational upgrade for the whole of the air force, as less advanced planes will be also connected in one network with the new F-35s, and use their radar and targeting equipment. The Israeli air force will become smaller in quantity, but will enhance its capacity to destroy air defence system, for example.

The Israeli Navy traditionally had lesser importance than the other two branches; its role was almost solely to prevent enemies from invading from the beaches. Because of the natural gas findings in the Eastern 44

SECURITY POLICY

Mediterranean, Israel needed to significantly develop its navy; the Federal Republic of Germany provides diesel submarines, and also participates in enhancing its surface fleet. Apart from defending the gas fields, Israel cooperates with Cyprus and Greece, as especially the neighbouring island nation requires the Israel security umbrella. Finally, according to international security policy experts, Israel uses its submarine fleet as a deterrent against a potential Iranian nuclear threat.

To conclude, it is vital for Israel to maintain its qualitative supremacy in the region in the form of a military that is capable of deterring Iran, fighting asymmetric threats, and counterweighing the lack of strategic depth by building regional coalitions and possessing the capabilities to move the armed struggle to the enemies’ territory as the rapidly as possible.

The Israel Lobby

Israel’s legitimacy. Their most important organisation is

No country can achieve its goals in global politics

which is a regular station of the American presidential

without necessary representation. Israel’s outside

support base can be grouped into four categories, apart from traditional diplomacy. Among them only one is the so-called “Jewish lobby,” a more important and

broader one is the Israel lobby, and the Israeli security

and business presence. It is an undisputable fact that

the Jewry living in the global centres of power, feeling its complex attachment to Israel, its ancestral homeland and demographic core, represents an important voice in all international discussions on the Jewish state. Jews living in London, Paris, Moscow, and especially the American Jewry, naturally have a stance on Israel’s support. Their

most important global organisation is the World Jewish

Congress, which is based on continental and national sub-organisations. It is important to highlight that these institutions enable Jewish philanthropists’ aid to Israeli

causes, which still represents an important revenue for Israeli education, healthcare, and other social services, in a country which does not really rely on it anymore.

We can also mention the organisation of Jewish

parliamentarians, which gathers members of parliaments

the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) candidates during their campaign. Then-candidate Donald Trump’s first serious address on foreign policy

was delivered here in 2016. The key target group is not

the American Jewry numbering a few million, but the tens of millions large Christian Zionist community and

other pro-Israel voters. The “Israel lobby” acts also in decision-making institutions, such as the European Friends of Israel or the pro-Israel groups in the American

Congress and Senate. It is also important to mention that religious support for Israel does not only include Christianity. Hindu sympathy towards the Jewish state is

especially significant, but we can point to a certain level of Muslim-Zionism as well, since the privileged position

of Jews in Islamic theology also serves as the basis for such a sympathy beyond the political debates.

The support for Israel is more and more turning into a notion based on realpolitik instead of an ethnicity or religion, as Ambassador Yossi Amrani mentioned.

Israel, as a stable and powerful country in the Eastern

Mediterranean, is a vital partner for NATO, which is represented by the fact that Israel has an office at the

of Jewish origin from all countries on the globe.

NATO HQ in Brussels. In global economics, Israel is

of the Israel lobby that is based on three main pillars.

fields of sustainability, combined with the changing

It is more interesting the present the complex nature The first consists of the previously-mentioned Jewish

communities, which are also engaged in lively debates on the kind of policy Israel should pursue. The second

group is the Christian Zionist, which may mean a theological standing or simply “a Christian who supports the goal of Zionism.” May the motive be religious or

not, groups supporting Israel play an important role in

member of the OECD, and Israeli achievements in the realities in the Middle East, give an opportunity to

further cooperation, while serving the common good.

The next glass ceiling which Israel has to break in international politics is in the United Nations. Tzipi Livni,

former Minister of Foreign Affairs’ nomination as Deputy

Secretary General by Antonia Guterres could have been a major milestone in furthering Israel’s legitimacy.

SECURITY POLICY

45

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

STRUCTURE AND CHALLENGES OF THE JEWISH AND DEMOCRATIC STATE Israel is unique on the globe, as it is the only country in which the majority of the population is an ethnoreligious group, and where the ethnic and religious identity has a strong correlation.

Furthermore, every person born or converted to Judaism automatically becomes a member of the Jewish people. Therefore, defining the legal meaning of the term “Jewish state� is a challenging question, as the Jewish ethnicity necessarily draws with itself religious aspects as well. Israel could not yet adopt a complete constitution, partly for the aforementioned reason. Therefore, basic laws govern those constitutional issues on which the parliament managed to achieve an agreement in the previous decades. Basic laws governing the

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset 46

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

national and the minority questions are missing, as it does not only have to set the rights of the minorities, but Israeli Jews fundamentally disagree on what it means that the country has a Jewish character, and what it means to be a Jew. In order to overcome the issue, the leaders refer to the country, as a Jewish and democratic state.

Oftentimes Israel is blamed for the legal framework of religious affairs, but this is rather a leftover from the Turkish Imperial administration.

The Israeli political leadership could be blamed for not being able to reform the system in which the priests of the three major religions (Judaism, Sunni Islam, and Christianity) have a number of monopolies over the life of their congregants.

There is no civil marriage in Israel, solely the appropriate religious institutions may wed the citizens, so many Israelis circumvent the system, and they marry abroad, usually in Cyprus, and when they return home,, the state accepts the marriage. This framework is particularly detrimental to Jews, as Judaism is much more colourful and diverse than the orthodox/ ultraorthodox stream, which rules the Jewish institutions in Israel. A religious revolution is on its way in Israel; albeit slowly, different streams of Judaism, such as the modern orthodox, conservative, reform and the Ethiopian demand more rights from the state.

ZIONISM The meeting point of the Old Testament and the Central-European national awakenings

Few countries have such a deep rooted state ideology as Israel. As can be read in the chapter on the political system, all but one political parties build their programme on the basis of Zionism. Zionism has a significant Hungarian connection, and not only because Theodore Herzl, born in Pest, in the Kingdom of Hungary, launched the Zionist political movement. Zionism (Zion is a Hebrew synonym for Jerusalem, but it can also mean the whole of the Holy Land), is based on Jewish tradition, on the notion that the Creator has assigned the Land of Israel to Abraham. After Jews were exiled, they did not do anything in order to reclaim their homeland apart from praying, therefore, we should not equate Zionism with the religious tradition. In order for the “longing” to succeed, it needed the inspiration from the 19th century national liberation movements in Central Europe that connected the goal (a sovereign nation state) with an effective tool, which was a political movement of the masses, combined with intensive diplomatic work.

Herzl’s motivation for launching such a movement was similar to that of other Central European nations. While Hungarians and Poles wanted to liberate themselves from foreign imperial rule, the Jews, in spite of their emancipation, wanted to physically separate themselves from the often hostile majorities. The foundational work of Political Zionism is Die Judenstaat (The Jewish State), published in 1896, in which Herzl lay the strategy for establishing a Jewish homeland.

Later, in 1897 and thereupon annually, Herzl organised the Zionist Congresses, which built the institutions needed to establish the state. It is interesting to note that the groups most adverse to Zionism were the Hungarian and German Jews which were leading the emancipation process, while the most enthusiastic supporters

Theodore Herzl

were the communities harassed by pogroms under the Russian Tzar’s rule. Herzl’s dream was in the end realised, as he prophesised in 1897, albeit not in fifty, but in fifty-one years the Jewish state was truly established. Zionism became the state ideology of Israel, but its interpretation differs profoundly among the political formations.

According to Herzl’s vision, set in his book published in 1902, Altneuland (Old-New Country) the Jewish state has to be a democratic country, promoting ethnic and religious harmony and a socially conscious market economy. What was not realised from his vision, was the temple of universal peace in Jerusalem, which should have been an international arbitration court, and also, he hoped that Israel would not need an army. He was a real politician in the sense that he imagined the Jewish state under the protection of the Turkish Emperor and the German Kaiser.

To conclude, Herzlian Zionism considers Jews to be a people, and only secondly as a religion, therefore, drawing from the inspiration of national liberation movements, it aimed to establish a Jewish nation state. In the past one hundred and twenty years, the movement has diversified into religious Zionism, green Zionism, socialist Zionism, completely covering both the DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

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Jewish protest against the British government’s policies in the mandate

right and left wing of the political spectrum. It is worth keeping in mind that there are much more Christian Zionist individuals on the globe than Jews altogether. Christian Zionism can be also separated into a number of streams, but they all agree that the Jewish people also need their own nation state, Israel, but they differ on whether they consider Jews as just another 48

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nation among many, or they believe that, based on their particular Christian theology, Jews play a special role in the second coming of Jesus Christ.

POLITICAL SYSTEM The Israeli parliament operates as a unicameral legislative institution; the whole country is a single electoral unit. Altogether, parties compete for one hundred and twenty seats in the parliament, called the Knesset. The Israeli political system is traditionally unstable; it is rare that a government can survive its four-year-long mandate, so early elections are common. In order to reduce the volatility of the system, the lower limit to get into the legislation was raised from 2% to 3.25% in March 2014 (to compare, the same limit in Hungary is 5% and in Turkey 10%). This resulted in fewer political parties represented in the Knesset, which may stabilise the political system.

The issue was raised that this change targeted the Arab parties, but as these forces chose to combine their power, in 2015, the United (Arab) List became the third largest faction in the Knesset. This political formation is unique in the Middle East, as it merges Arab Nationalist, Islamist, and Communist politicians. Calling this formation “Arab� is not advised, as the faction also has Jewish members of parliament. An additional raise of the entry limit to 7% was also considered, which would mean a quasitwo-party system with a third, smaller party, furthering the Arab cause. Not surprisingly, the two large parties, the Likud and Labour, support this plan, and smaller parties are against it.

The Israeli political palette is very colourful; apart from the United List, all parties stand on the base of Zionism, despite the fact that the relationship of the religious parties with Zionism is quite controversial. We may divide political parties currently represented in the Knesset into five groups: religious-ultraorthodox, religious-Zionist, right wing, left wing, and the ideological anomaly United List. Religiousultraorthodox parties have a controversial relationship with the Zionist state, as they reject the notion of a Jewish state established by political tools. According to their belief, it may only be established by the Messiah. Therefore, they can only take a partial role in the current state system, as it does not respect a number of

religious commandments (such as the complete and unrestricted observation of the Jewish day of rest, the Shabbath). Therefore, predominantly the party of the Ashkenazi ultraorthodox, the United Torah Judaism, only takes a role in areas it can fulfil a religious role, such as healthcare. The Sephardic ultraorthodox party,

The Knesset

Ayoub Kara Israeli minister in 2009

Netanyahu on a campaign poster DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

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Shas, approaches the issue more flexibly; its main goal is to further the goals of the Mizrahi, Eastern Jews originating from Islamic countries, and more broadly to promote economic wellbeing for the poorest parts of the society.

The four strictly Zionist groups of parties resemble more the traditional European political palette. The leftist Labour (which, together with the smaller The Movement party, operates as the Zionist Union, which is a problematic name, as the other parties also stand on the Zionist platform) and Meretz (which is the “most left wing, yet still Zionist party”) further the cause of social justice. The Israeli right wing can be separated into three groups, the religious-Zionist Habayit Hayehudi (The Jewish Home), which does not support the two state solution, rather it would give autonomy to the Palestinians. The largest parliamentary group is Likud, which promotes a conservative social policy and neoliberal economic strategy. Lastly, the Yisrael Beyteinu (Israel is our Home), led by current Minister of Defence Avigdor Lieberman, chiefly promoted the cause of the Russian speaking Israelis formerly, it is considered to be hawkish from a diplomatic point of view, but it supports the two state solution. The most recent group of Israeli political parties is the centrist one. Parties did exist formerly which promoted Secularism and economic growth, such as the party of the Hungarian born Tommy Lapid (father of the former Minister of Finance Yair Lapid), but the Israeli voters, reacting to the relative economic hardships of the middle class, demanded a new voice in Israeli public discourse. This new political voice put the conflict’s priority secondary to economic challenges, it stands for “political normalisation,” elevated itself above the traditional right wing-left wing division, working strongly against the privileges of the ultraorthodox Jewry. Yair Lapid’s Yes Atid (There is Future) party entered into politics in 2013, and in 2015, Kulanu, led by current Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon, entered the race with a somewhat more conservative platform than that of Yes Atid. These parties adopt a pragmatist stance towards the Israeli-Palestinian and the Israeli-Arab conflict, they would use all 50

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opportunities to normalise relations with the other side, may they lead towards smaller steps or a complete peace agreement, but they would not jeopardise the security of the state. Finally, it is worth mentioning that, although the United (Arab) List is often called the champion of the Arab cause, it is clear from the voting results that a large number of Arabs do not vote for this formation. Arab voters and politicians are represented in the leftist Israeli parties, in Labour and Meretz, and the Israeli Druze Arabs are represented in the right wing parties, in Likud and Yisrael Beyteinu. Former Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara was responsible for regional cooperation, he was promoted to Minister of Communication in early 2017.

The legislation elects the President of the state, appoints the Prime Minister, and adopts all laws. The Israeli Supreme Court conducts constitutional checks on all legislation, and instead of a constitution, it uses the Basic Laws, to evaluate the new laws. The Supreme Court is a prime example of the activist Israeli justice system, this fact is often used in political debates with a negative or positive tone depending on the political stance of the particular politician.

THE XX. KNESSET

United List

Zionist Camp

United Torah

Israel Beiteinu

Meretz Shas

Yesh Atid

Kulanu

HaBayit Likud

SHIMON PERES THE LAST FOUNDING FATHER

Israel lost her last founding father on 28 September 2016. Shimon Peres, former President, Prime Minister and the architect of the Israeli security, shaped his country until he passed away. Shimon Peres was born in today’s Poland and moved to the British Palestinian mandate in 1934 with his family. The young Peres got into politics through a left wing youth movement; David Ben-Gurion, the first Israeli Prime Minister, took notice of the talented young man. This led Peres to become deputy head of department in the Ministry of Defence, responsible for weapons procurement. The former President played a vital role in arming the Israeli army through secret diplomacy, and in building the nuclear installation in the city of Dimona, which is considered by experts to be the centre of the Israeli nuclear deterrent capability.

The Israeli government announced after his passing that the nuclear facility in Dimona would be renamed Shimon Peres.

The career of the legendary politician shows well all the challenges and milestones of the country’s history. While during the early years, the key priority was arming the state, from the second half of the 1970s, the main task became to make peace with the neighbours. Israel also had to manage an internal political upheaval, which meant that the peace treaty with Egypt was signed by Menachem Begin, the first right wing Israeli Prime Minister. Peres initiated the process

of signing a peace treaty with Jordan already in the 80s, but his efforts could only bear fruits after the end of the Cold War. Shimon Peres played a key role in the Jordanian and Palestinian peace efforts, as the Foreign Minister of Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Prime Minister, was assassinated in 1995.

For their efforts, together with Yasser Arafat, they received the Nobel Peace Prize.

While Shimon Peres fulfilled vital roles in all key events of the young country, the voters never elected him to lead the nation; his political career could only reach its peak when he was elected to be the President in 2005. As President, he belong to a small group of leaders, who acted as informal global elders and were popular speakers at all major international conferences. Peres used his position to further the cause of regional peace and technological advancement. During his lifetime, he turned from being a securityoriented “hawk” into a “dove.” His message could be summarised as the following: the era of wars ended in the Middle East, what has remained is terrorism which can be eliminated by solving the factors causing it. Israel can only survive by making a comprehensive peace with its neighbours, and advancing the technological frontier. Peres thought that innovation is the only struggle which has to be waged by the Jewish state, as it can achieve victories in this field without making anyone else lose, rather everyone wins. The burial of the former head of state took place in Jerusalem on the Herzl Mountain on 30 September 2016. His catafalque was located next to the grave of Theodore Herzl. Seventyfive countries sent their leaders to the ceremony, the presence of the Egyptian, Jordanian, and the Palestinian delegations, the latter having been led by Mahmud Abbas himself, was highly symbolic. Hungary was represented by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

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ISRAELI NARRATIVES ON THE PEACE AGREEMENT WITH THE PALESTINIANS AND ARABS The Israeli government’s official policy, which was presented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, is the two state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this framework, Israel can imagine its existence next to a demilitarised Palestinian state, while it demands that Palestinian leadership acknowledges Israel’s right to exist as the nation state of the Jews. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is part of a much broader question, which is the normalisation of relations with the Arab world, from Morocco to Iraq. During the sixty-nine year history of the Jewish state, this issue has defined Israeli security perception and undergone a large degree of changes.

After the establishment of Israel, the Arab states did not accept the existence of the “foreign body,” rejected the 1947 UN Partition Plan, and considered it to be the dictate of the two superpowers. Arab states claimed the territory of Israel based on their strategic interests. Syria could have become a regional great power by conquering Lebanon and Israel, while Jordan wanted to reach the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, conservative Arab monarchies could have been afraid that Israel, turning into an ally of the Soviet Union as a Socialist state, could have had a detrimental ideological effect on the region. Paradoxically, a large number of these conservative monarchies became Soviet allies instead, and adopted Arab-Socialist political systems, namely Syria, Iraq, Libya and Egypt until the 1970s. Israel managed to remain an ally of the West through various partnerships, Socialist inclinations of the founding fathers did not have an effect on the country’s role in the Cold War. Israeli peace efforts and the thought process of the political and military leadership cannot be understood without the Israeli security 52

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perception. Israeli education and public discourse emphasise the message that “we cannot be weak ever again” and that “we are not going to be dependent on anyone ever again,” which derive from the tragic past of the Jewish people. For many years, openly speaking about the Holocaust was a taboo, Israeli Jews considered indirectly the European Jewry which perished as weak. This notion was only alleviated in 1961 during Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem, when Israelis finally understood the complex nature of the Second World War and the “Final Solution.” Israel emphasises guaranteeing its security by its own means and any other consideration come only later.

The series of wars resulting in Israeli victories and the constant threat strengthened the Israeli conviction that they can only survive through power in the Middle East. Menachem Begin, who made peace with Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, called him an “immaculate enemy,” and he did not believe that Arab states truly accepted Israel’s existence. The leadership of the Jewish state reacts favourably to all pragmatic initiatives furthering regional peace, but it wants to retain sufficient strength to defend the country if these peace treaties collapsed. This framework could be developed regarding Egypt and Jordan, but it means a more difficult obstacle to further peace treaties.

The Golan Heights, which was conquered from Syria in 1967 and later annexed by Israel, has undisputable strategic importance. The heights were used by Syrian forces to attack Israeli villages, while their military was present. For this reason, Israel will not give up the whole of the territory, even if a stable Syria would be created, which would have a government to negotiate peace. Israel would agree to divide the territory, as its superior military could achieve victory over

View of the Golan Hights

the Syrian forces turning hostile. For a long time, Israelis were suspected of retaining the Golan in order to secure water flows to the Kinneret Lake, but, as Israeli water technology advanced, this aspect has considerably lost its importance.

The Palestinian issue presents an even more difficult process for the Israelis than the Syrian question, as it would require giving up on precious strategic depth. The Israeli government has two main requirements for creating an independent Palestinian state. Firstly, the new country has to be demilitarised, and Israel wants to retain military presence along the Jordan river valley, which is needed to counter terrorist infiltration, and defend the country even if Jordan would destabilise. The Jordan River has only a few locations at which an armed force could pass through without significant technical preparations; the Israeli military aims to secure these positions in the future.

In the Israeli political and military discourse, while the asymmetric threat presented by Hamas and Hezbollah exists, there is only one existential threat, which is Iran. Israel does not

accept the nuclear deal conducted between Iran and the world powers, through which the Persian state was relieved from a number of economic sanction in return for the dismantling of its nuclear programme. Israeli military planning counts with a ten-year-long period during which it has to gear up to counter an Iranian nuclear threat enabled by advanced ballistic missile arsenal and allies along the Israeli borders.

Developments which are undertaken in the Israeli armed forces, be it missile defence, cyber technology, navy or air force, all prepare Israel for the next existential challenge. The country, based on its inherent security perception, aims to always be one or more steps ahead of all potential enemies.

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ECONOMY

FROM A SOCIALIST ECONOMY INTO AN INNOVATION SUPERPOWER

The city of Netanya at sunrise

The economic structure of the Jewish state has undergone a complete transition during the last sixty-nine years. Before the establishment of the country, preparing the European Jewry for mostly agricultural work presented a significant challenge for the Zionist organisations. While the “kibbutz movement” lost importance, it is true that that around the establishment of the state, the Socialist economic policy had a huge influence on the Israeli economy.

The new country’s economic and nationbuilding interest led to the organisation of agricultural production in the framework of kibbutzim, centralised industrialisation, and the highlighted role of defence industry. The Israeli economic policy underwent a marketfriendly turn in the seventies, and reforms of 54

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then Prime Minister Shimon Peres led to a new, knowledge-intensive economic structure, promoting individual entrepreneurship. Due to the successful economic transition, the Israeli economy has grown at a rate of four percent at an annual average in the last thirteen years, overshadowing the other developed countries in the OECD. This growth, based on the projections, will not stop in the near future.

The Israeli innovation economy profits significantly from the expertise and skills acquired during the military service of the citizens, talent management programmes and technology transfer offices of the Israeli universities which promote the market based, and profitable application of the successful scientific research. Israeli researchers become

successful entrepreneurs themselves through this process, which is endorsed by the significant contributions of the state for setting up start-ups, and the favourable investment climate. Israel requires the income collected from the knowledge-based economy as the military budget of the state, while it is being reduced as a percentage of the overall gross domestic product, the society expects more funds to be allocated to the welfare system, as old hostilities have ended with former archenemies. Israelis are less willing to sacrifice their wellbeing for military potential due to the absence of existential threats. Apart from the knowledge-based economy, Israel could not have relied on any other significant income until the 2000s. Innovation was also motivated by the harsh climate of the country, which have led to the development of water technology and the solar energy sector. Beyond the domestic demand, Israeli companies contribute to the state’s budget indirectly through exporting technology-intensive products and services, and Israel aims to get new friends in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa through developmental assistance.

The particle accelerator of the Weizmann Institute

%

Israel

OECD

Non- OECD

10 8 6 4 2 0 -2 -4 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 Israeli gross domestic product growth in international comparison OECD Economic Surveys Israel, Š OECD January 2016 p. 9.

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THE SUPREMACY OF ENERGY

CHALLANGES OF THE ISRAELI ECONOMY

Ben-Gurion once said humorously that the Creator managed to give the only part of the Middle East to the Jews which does not have oil. It is true that Israel did not have the chance, therefore, to develop a rent economy, as its land does not hide significant crude oil or natural gas reserves. This situation completely changed in the end of the first decade of the new millennium with the successful exploration drillings in the Mediterranean Sea. Israel has since tripled its natural gas reserves from 1200 billion cubic metre, with an additional 2100 bcm in February 2016. The state can reduce its dependency on important energy supplies, it will become self-sufficient in the coming decades. On the other hand, the gas reserves will fundamentally change Israel’s relations in the Mediterranean basin. Energy exports are a significant component of the rapidly developing Greek-Cypriot-Israeli cooperation, and the normalisation with Turkey has opened the way for cementing this relation with mutuallybeneficial trade in natural gas, as without Ankara, security and profitable energy exports are virtually unimaginable in the region.

Apart from the Israeli “Startup nation,” a parallel economy exists which presents as many opportunities to the trade partners as the innovation sector. The OECD estimates that poverty rate among its members is the highest in Israel after Mexico. The Israeli society is also troubled by the high consumer and real estate prices. Solving these issues are a top priority for the government, infrastructural development in the poorer regions, rapid residential area construction, and reducing state control over foreign trade all present economic opportunities to Israel’s economic partners. These steps are aided by the low inflation rate, which enables expansive monetary policy and the income from natural gas extraction. It is important to highlight that from a Hungarian perspective one of the most severe issues of the Israeli society is the high price of food items (the mass wave of protests in 2011 was initiated by the high price of cottage cheese). It is difficult to substitute food with imports due to the Kosher certificate of the Rabbinate. Therefore, producing food according to Jewish religious standards could be a lucrative economic opportunity for Hungarian exporters.

Home prices are pushed down by relocating a number of bases of the Israel Defense Forces from the centre of the country (such as the armoured divisions) to the sparsely habituated Negev Desert. The territory of Israel still needs a more effective usage. Therefore, an impressive railway and motorway construction was conducted in Israel, particularly towards the South, motivating the citizens to move to the Negev Desert. The most promising development in the Israeli economy (apart from settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) would be Extraction of the Leviathan natural gas field, which was the largest before the discovery of the Egyptian Zohr field

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(%) Poverty rate in Israel in international comparison, OECD Economic Surveys Israel, c OECD January 2016, p. 9.

the development of the Arab sector. While the one-hundred-thousand strong Christian Arabs are not included in this issue, as their standard of living is among the highest in the country, the Muslim Israeli-Arab consisting the fifth of the population retain enormous economic potential.

The Israeli government adopted in December 2015 the Arab Development Plan which assigns preferred status to all Arab communities in terms of budget allocation from 2016. The 15-billion-shekel plan (around 4 billion euros) focuses mainly on building transportation infrastructure and industrial parks in poorer Arab regions.

Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth index 2003=100

2004

Israel

2006

OECD

2008

United States

2010

United States

2012

2014

Az izraeli lakásárak robbanásszerű emelkedése, OECD Economic Surveys Israel, © OECD, 2016 január, 9. old.

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ISRAEL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The geographic location of the Jewish state put a large pressure on the economy in terms of natural resources, especially water management and energy sources. These challenges present a dual edge sword in Israel’s future, as they limit the autonomy of the state, but they also create enormous opportunities if they can be managed by developing technological solutions which can make Israel self-sufficient in these dimensions.

While Israel became known for its innovations in the last two decades, it is important to emphasise that, especially in the field of water management, Israel made grand achievements to reduce the amount of required water agricultural production.

The seemingly simple process of drip irrigation spread already in the 70s and halved the required water resources.

Sustainable development appeared already in the political priorities of Ben-Gurion, considering the strategic importance of the Negev, which covers seventy percent of Israel’s territory. BenGurion proclaimed that turning the desert into a fertile land is the supreme Zionist act. He said: “The ultimate test of Israel in our generation is not a struggle against hostile forces outside, but a takeover by force of science and pioneering, the wilderness land spaces of the south and the Negev.” This decades-long struggle became even more important with realising the effects of global warming and the promising economic and foreign policy advantages.

Israel arrived to the point in 2016 when it possess more water than its national economy utilises. The winning combination was using innovative and relatively cheap solutions, both in water production and reclamation. Israel traditionally emphasised using wastewater in 58

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irrigation, today ninety percent of wastewater is being reused. This makes Israel number one in this field, Spain comes next with a significantly lower ratio, twenty-five percent.

Previously, technological obstacles prevented Israel from completely eliminating its reliance on its neighbours for its water resources.

In 2007, the country suffered from a severe lack of water, it would have needed 1.9 billion cubic metres, but 500 million cubic metres of water was missing from natural sources and the largest natural reserve, the Kinneret Lake, was constantly depleting. Therefore, the Israeli government initiated large scale investments in order to produce half of the required water from seawater desalinisation. The country’s goal is to achieve seventy percent in this field by 2050, which is a quite conservative projection for the development in the coming three decades, considering the efforts of the previous ten years.

The amassed technological knowhow and spare water opened new frontiers in Israeli diplomacy, not only in relation to Israel’s neighbours, but in all areas of the world, especially in Africa.

Israeli export of water technology products and services also represent a significant income for the state, which currently amount to two billion dollars annually.

Israel formerly had to import almost all its energy resources. The usage of nuclear energy is not considered, due to the national security risk this method would present. Israel’s goal is to achieve a ten percent share of renewable energy by 2020. Due to Israel’s geographic location, solar power has the most potential, especially in the Negev Desert. Internal state regulations did not permit the installation of new solar power plants in the last two years, but the recent tenders of the Ministry of Energy points to the realisation of the goal by 2020.

Solar panels in the Negev Desert

Self-driving irrigation system at the edge of the Negev Desert ECONOMY

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Food

Schnitzel tiras – breaded corn

Probably German-speaking Jewry brought the Wiener schnitzel to Israel, but, due to kibbutz life and Kosher regulations, instead of meat, corn became the main ingredient of the breaded meal.

The food, which was eaten by the poor, became a national meal in prepacked frozen form.

Shakshuka

This Israeli meal, which resembles ratatouille with omelette, is consumed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well. The way shakshuka is prepared represents well the origins of the cook, we may eat it with hummus, feta cheese, spicy Libyan sausage, and minced lamb. We can also ask for it in pita bread if we want a quick, but nutritious takeaway meal

Hummus

The highlighted role of the chickpea cream can be illustrated perfectly by the fact that Hebrew has a separate verb for “dripping something in hummus.” Hummus is eaten together with virtually everything, it is served in small plates with olive oil, spices, and thina (sesame seed cream) in the centre. Israelis use hummus to cover the insides of the takeaway meals, and a special variant is served together with shakshuka.

Crembo

Israeli Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal in an Israeli’s life. A “respectable” table has eggs, salad, tuna, a selection of dairy products, hummus, and other types of creams to complement the bread. Israelis drink orange juice and coffee with the healthy meals. We may ask for an Israeli breakfast in all cafeterias in different variants.

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A person’s identity is defined by many factors, their job, their faith, or family. According to the Israelis, nothing describes a person better than from which direction they start to eat the crembo, which is the most traditional Israeli dessert. The local “Tea cake” has a number of different fillings, making the picture even more complex.

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The Gatekeepers (2012)

The documentary movie presents the dilemmas in the Israeli struggle against terrorism through interviews with former heads of the Israeli internal security agency, the Shin Bet. The movie is a key source for anyone who wants to understand the dynamics of the political, intelligence, and military system and the complexities of asymmetric warfare.

Sof Ha’Olam Smola Turn left in the end of the world (2004)

This bittersweet comedy shows the hardships of the new immigrants and the Israeli society in the 1960s.

An Indian Jewish family moves to South Israel after making Aliya, where, through the interaction with the neighbours from Morocco, all the cultural differences emerge between the two communities, but the movie also shows that love and friendship does not recognise any borders.

Movies

Live and Become (2005)

The movie shows the difficulties of the Ethiopian Jewry in Israel through presenting the life of a young child who escaped from Ethiopia to Israel. Shlomo, who, although a Christian, is sent by his mother to Israel, hoping for him a better life together with the Ethiopian Jews. The movie presents the hardships awaiting the Ethiopian community in their new home, in which their millennia-long separation plays a significant role, while currently every fiftieth Israeli belongs to the community.

The Hungarian Cube (2013)

The film chronicles the life of the Israel prize laureate AndrĂŠ Hajdu, the Hungarian-born Israeli composer. It does not only give a glimpse into the life of Israelis of Hungarian origin, but also into the meeting of the religious and secular Jewish World through the interviews with Hajdu himself and the members of his family.

Mivtsa Yonathan – Operation Thunderbolt (1977)

The movie presents the story of the Israeli commando which saved the passengers and crew of the airplane hijacked by terrorists that landed in Uganda. During the operation, the only person who lost his life was Yonathan Netanyahu, the brother of the current prime minister. The movie shows the surprising informality of the Israeli military due to its roots in armed militia, which still shapes the Israeli Defense Forces.

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Tel-Aviv, Jaffa old town This quarter, deeply integrated into Israel’s economic centre, provides the perfect example of religious coexistence. In Ottoman times, the city built on the heights on the beach was the most important port of the region, today it is renowned for its fish restaurants. From the highest point, one can see a beautiful panorama of the skyscrapers of Tel-Aviv and the Mediterranean Sea.

Place Haifa, Bahai Gardens The Bahai religion was founded in the 19th century in Persia; it is the fourth largest Abrahamic religion. Their holiest pilgrimage site is the location of the graves of their prophets, situated in the hillside of the city of Haifa. The charming gardens and building maintained by the “Bahai knights” (the faithful serving religious duties) are truly the highlights of Israel.

Acre, Crusader Fortress The old city of Acre is in itself a beautiful sight, through the gulf we can see the city of Haifa. Below the old city populated by Israeli Arabs, the huge crusader fortress city is located. After finishing the guided tour through the enormous halls and marketplaces, we can acknowledge with surprise that the tour ends at a completely different side of the old city. The fortress presents the complex history of the crusades, the daily lives of warriors and civilians.

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Jerusalem, Old City The holy city of the three Abrahamic religions has many interesting sights for all. Alongside the rich history, a vivid metropolis awaits the visitor. Those interested in religions may visit the Al Aksa mosque’s golden roof, the Wailing Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in which six Christian churches preserve the gravestone of Jesus Christ. During our visit, we should not skip the Tower of David, the museum in the fortress presents the millennia-long history of the Holy Land through all ages.

Massada The fortress is located south of Jerusalem, on the seashore of the Dead Sea in the inhospitable Negev Desert. The mentality of the last pocket of Jewish resistance against the Roman armies plays an important role in the Israeli military’s attitude. The Israeli soldiers pledge their vows at this location: “Massada shall never fall again.” After visiting the fortress, we should go swimming to the Dead Sea, which is the saltiest body of water on Earth located in the lowest surface on the globe, as such, one is not able to submerge in it.

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Személy

Golda Meir Among Israel’s larger than life generation of politicians, the former Prime Minister should be highlighted, the fourth woman to be elected to such a position in the world. She had undisputable contributions to secure the funds needed to arm the young state and constructing the Israeli social security net as Minister of Labour. The Israeli iron lady led the country from 1969, through the Yom Kippur War.

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David Ben-Gurion During the British Palestinian Mandate, Israel’s first Prime Minister had already shaped the nation even before declaring the state. Since founding the country, he headed the country for the longest time, altogether for fifteen years. Ben-Gurion affects the nation even in his death, as those wishing to visit his grave have to travel deep into the Negev Desert.

Theodore Herzl Herzl, born in 1860 in Pest, Kingdom of Hungary, organised what is today the Israeli state ideology into a political movement. Herzl, is the most important figure in Israeli historical memory and political thought, he is called the “Visionary of the State.” His grave stands on the top of the Herzl Mountain from which we can see the whole of Jerusalem. The mountain serves as the final resting place of the Israeli political leadership, and the country’s major military cemetery is located there.

Ilan Ramon Israel’s first and until now its only astronaut. The fighter pilot passed away in 2003 on board of the Columbia spacecraft which exploded after launch.

Israel’s second largest airport is named after him.

Natalie Portman The Israeli-American actress (born in Jerusalem as NetaLee Hershlag) studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Harvard. Her greatest performance was in Black Swan for which she received the Oscar Prize and many remember her excellent performance as Mathilda in Leon, the Professional.

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BOOK REVIEW

PARAG KHANNA: CONNECTOGRAPHY – Mapping the Future of Global Civilization

The changing world order is unfolding in front of our eyes. The process, accelerated by advanced technology, mean both a challenges and a lot of opportunities to all countries of the Earth. Parag Khanna’s best seller book, published in 2016, offers a unique vision for the coming world order, in which the globe will be reorganised according to supply chain networks instead of states.

Economic necessities, the human longing to be connected, and meeting the new methods of transportation will rearrange the balance of power on the regional and global level. The author believes that, instead of states, cooperation and competition between economic units will define the future. While today countries have cities, in the coming decades, successful megapolises will define their country’s fate.

As the success stories presented by the author show, only those communities will be prosperous which are ready to renew themselves, and adapt to the ever accelerating rate of progress. Khanna points to the fact that political and economic units have to see the map in a completely different way, instead of the virtual reality created by artificial

borders, our habitat has to be developed based on the functional realities presented by geography. Khanna’s volume is full of useful, informative, and thought-provoking maps and graphs describing how the infrastructure developments can reshape and make the most out of the most important part of the global technological revolution awaiting us: the organically interconnected human communities.

The scope of the enterprise is awe-inspiring, yet highly transparent in Khanna’s work. He does not shy away from putting a price tag on the restructuring of the globe, which will cost tens of trillions of US dollars in the coming decade.

According to the author, this investment shall be the most important human quest in stopping the great power struggle leading to a Third World War, and instead creating a civilization based on an environment of creative competition and commercial tug of war.

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AZ ANTALL JÓZSEF KNOWLEDGE CENTRE

The Antall József Knowledge Centre (AJKC) in Hungary, during its six years of existence, has introduced a variety of events targeting Hungarian students enrolled in higher education, as well as domestic and international professional audiences. The Knowledge Centre’s main objectives, in line with the Antall philosophy, are talent management and providing students and young professionals with wide-ranging practical knowledge through various events. Having six years of experience in the field, the Knowledge Centre aims to become a regionally relevant think tank that is “unavoidable” when it comes to certain issues such as the Visegrad Cooperation, the future global role of the US, China, and Russia, security policy, sustainable development, as well as technological and social innovation.

Our institution is structured into three international offices—dealing with the EU and the V4, the USA, and Asia and Africa—two thematic offices focusing on security policy and

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sustainable development, two regional offices in Pécs and Győr, as well as the Brussels Office, all of which are working toward strengthening institutional relations both at the national and international level, developing scholarship and internship programmes, and boosting professional cooperation via international conferences, workshops, and event series.

True to its namesake, the Antall József Knowledge Centre places special emphasis on the issues of Hungarians from beyond the borders, the Visegrad Cooperation, European integration, and Atlanticism. The Knowledge Centre is independent of parties, therefore it does not deal with contemporary Hungarian domestic politics, but always strives to remain up-to-date in global affairs. The key questions of the 21st Century, foreign and security policy, sustainable development, and technological innovation are all emphasised during the planning of long-term programmes and in our research activities.

The Knowledge Centre’s publishing office releases works on political and social sciences in Hungarian, thereby conveying the messages of the greatest thinkers and public figures of the world.

The publishing activities of AJKC involve releasing professional publications, scientific works on political and social sciences (with special regard to security policy and international relations), as well as university textbooks.

In our autobiographical series, prominent personalities of the Cold War period, including Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, and Helmut Kohl recount crucial years and decisions still affecting their lives.

Reacting to events of political, social, and economic significance in the 21st century, the professional publications series of the Knowledge Centre is made up of works incorporating the latest results of international relations and geopolitics, the history of politics, economics, and psychology.

In spring 2015, the Brussels Office of the Knowledge Centre was established. The bust of Prime Minister József Antall was inaugurated in the József Antall Building of the European Parliament on 31 March 2015 as part of the

first instalment of the Variations on Europe conference series, which continued in May and September. The stances of the V4 countries with regard to the migration crisis were tackled during a conference held in autumn 2015. The well-received Schengen 2.0—Saving Schengen conference was realised in June 2016, while a conference revolving around European responses to terrorist attacks was held in September 2016. The latter was organised in cooperation with the Egmont Institute and the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.

In autumn 2016, a roundtable discussion focusing on the past and future of the V4 was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the formation of the Visegrad Cooperation. In January 2017, at the event organised jointly with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, delivered a speech entitled Europe 2017 on the challenges of our common future. The event was opened by Dr Hans-Gert Pöttering, Chairman of the KonradAdenauer-Stiftung and former President of the European Parliament.

Our newest and largest event is think.BDPST. Organised in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, the National Research, Development and

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Innovation Office Hungary, the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA), and the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, with the support of the International Visegrad Fund and MVM the Hungarian Electricity Ltd, the first instalment of Hungary’s strategic conference took place on 8-10 March 2016.

The main aim of the think.BDPST project, the focus of which is innovation, new technologies, and regional development, is to put Hungary on the map of large-scale regional conferences such as GLOBSEC, Krynica Economic Forum, and the Prague European Summit, by organising the most significant innovation forum in the region, thereby facilitating a dialogue between the representatives of the economic, governmental, and scientific spheres.

In addition to innovation, the Knowledge Centre puts special emphasis on sustainable development. During the three instalments of the SUSCO Budapest conference series, many topics were examined including sustainable development in general and the sustainable development goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations, smart cities and sustainable transportation, and water and the city.

The annual Foreign and Security Policy Conference invites national and international experts to discuss global security policy challenges. The first conference revolved around the new world order, the second around the relationship of the US and Russia, while the third analysed the situation in Turkey. The most popular programme series of the Knowledge Centre, Foreign and Security Policy First-hand, in turn, provides a platform to examine current issues within the field of security policy.

In 2016, the Knowledge Centre organised the fourth Antall József Summer School. Every year, 40-50 students from more than 20 countries enrolled in different MA and PhD programmes participate in the two-week event, the aim of which is to strengthen and render the Visegrad Cooperation more visible in the field of education.

The Antall József Summer School provides those interested in Central European studies with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the V4 region and Hungary.

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Our commitment to rendering the Visegrad Cooperation more visible is further evidenced by the establishment of the Visegrád Bridge Award. The Knowledge Centre and the International Visegrad Fund established the Award on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the regime changes of the region to recognise the endeavours of those who have persistently advocated the cause of the Visegrad Cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, and diplomacy.

The award was first conferred upon Lech Wałęsa, former President of the Republic of Poland and one of the founders of the Visegrad Cooperation.

Meanwhile, with the Antall Award, yet another decoration established by our institution, the Knowledge Centre acknowledges the activities of those who made lasting contributions to the advancement of Hungary. In 2015, Dr József Pálinkás, President of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office Hungary and former President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, was presented with the award.

Just like for late Prime Minister, transborder Hungarians constitute a priority for the Knowledge Centre. Therefore, our institution takes part in the Bálványos Free University every year with programmes and provides internship opportunities for minority-status Hungarians.

The objectives of the Knowledge Centre include talent management and the establishment of higher education network. For these purposes, AJKC organises the annual Danube Regatta. The number of participating universities has grown year after year since its inception: in 2016, teams from 16 Hungarian and two British universities, Oxford and Cambridge, competed against each other in rowing eights and dragon boat races.

Other aims of the Regatta include encouraging a diverse use of the Danube and improving the image of Hungary.

KÖZELMÚLT ESEMÉNYEI Public Lecture – Is this the New Normal? – 17 January 2017

In cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, we organised a public lecture of Rolandas Kačinskas, Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

In his lecture, Mr Kačinkas briefly summarised Lithuania’s past 27 years: he talked about the country’s main goals and achievements, then presented Lithuania’s perspectives on several current international affairs (e.g. US elections, crisis in Syria, Ukraine, NATO’s role in Eastern Europe, terrorism, cyber security, Russian disinformation, cyber security, etc.). He also outlined Lithuania’s relations with Russia and Belarus.

The lecture was followed by a discussion moderated by Tamás Péter Baranyi, Head of Research at Antall József Knowledge Centre.

Podium Discussion in Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the German-Hungarian Agreement on Friendly Cooperation and Partnership – 6 February 2017 In their opening remarks, Ádám Kégler, Deputy Director of the Antall József Knowledge Centre, and Frank Spengler, Resident Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Hungary talked about the importance of GermanHungarian relations. In his keynote speech, Zoltán Balog, Minister of Human Capacities,

underlined that the relationship between the two countries is based on more than simply economic, cultural, or scientific cooperation.

Dr Manfred Emmes, Chargé d’Affaires of Germany in Hungary, and HE Péter Györkös, Hungarian Ambassador in Berlin, both highlighted important parts of the Agreement’s text, such as the ones discussing the hundredyear old friendship, or the special heritage between the two countries.

The follow-up podium discussion was moderated by Former Ambassador Gergely Prőhle, Director of the Petőfi Literature Museum. Participants included Arnold Vaatz, Deputy Group Leader of the CDU/CSU in the Bundestag, Dr István Hiller, Vice President of the Hungarian Parliament, Tobias Zech, Member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Bundestag, Dr Gergely Gulyás, Vice- President of the Hungarian Parliament. The panellist discussed the lessons learned from history, the possible future of the European Union, and the countries’ role in the EU. They all agreed that the cooperation will be just as important in the next years as it have been in the past.

Yes, he could? – Roundtable Discussion about the Obama Legacy – 7 February 2017 How will President Barack Obama’s eight years at the White House be remembered? What are his biggest domestic and foreign policy achievements?

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will remain from it under President Trump. These and many similar questions were discussed at this roundtable discussion with the attendance of Dr Tamás Magyarics, Professor at Eötvös Loránd University, Gábor Horváth, Népszabadság correspondent, and László Zord Gábor, Magyar Nemzet journalist.

Will the UN Rise Again? – 14 February 2017 The appointment of the new Secretary General of the United Nations, Antónia Guterres, coincided with the emergence of a new era in the global world order. During the discussion, our distinguished guests, Martin Nesirky, Director of the UN Information Service in Vienna, and Tamás Kuntár, Head of the Department for International Organisations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, focused on four major topics: the process of electing the Secretary General and the reasons why not a Central-Eastern European candidate was elected; the possibility of reforming the UN structures to better represent the current international balance of power; limiting great power competition, and serve the interests of smaller member states. They also examined the evolution of peacekeeping missions and whether the humanitarian work of the UN would be strengthened, reflecting Gutterres’ previous position as High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015.

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AJKC FUTURE EVENTS Dutch Parliamentary Elections – 21 March 2017 Right after the Dutch elections, our experts will analyse the outcome in a panel discussion.

Between 2002 and 2012, five elections were held in the Netherlands, while none of the governments was able to fill out their mandate fully. In 2012, a coalition of the Labour Party (PvdA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) won majority, but, because of the migration crisis, the popularity of the Party for Freedom (PVV) started growing with a surprising rate. Geert Wilders, the party’s leader, promised a referendum on the EU membership, should he win the elections. What policy will the newly elected government follow?

Will they be able to complete their mandate?

These and similar questions will be answered in our panel discussion on 21 March 2017.

think.BDPST 2017 – Connect to the Future and Young Leaders’ Forum 2017- 29-31 March 2017 Hungary’s strategic conference on regional development and the new perspectives of research, innovation, and future technologies returns, in 2017. With the second instalment of think.BDPST, our aim is to narrow the scope of topics under discussion and go deeper into exploring specific areas of social innovation and future technologies such as employment, education, healthcare, and medicine. A side event of think.BDPST is the Young Leaders’ Forum which features outstanding young professionals (aged 24-38), soon to become important actors and decision-makers in the field of innovation, political and social sciences, as well as healthcare. Registration is open. For further information, please visit think.bdpst.org

Antall József Summer School 2017 – 3-14 July 2017 2017 is a special year for the European Union as it marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the 25th of the Treaty of Maastricht, and the 10th of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Therefore, the 2017 Antall József Summer School will mainly focus on the examination of the Visegrad Countries’ position within the European Union. In addition, communitybuilding activities are an integral part of this year’s programme and the creation of an AJSS

Alumni Society is an additional important aspect in 2017, as the Summer School was launched exactly five years ago. Application to AJSS 2017 is now open. For further information, please visit http://ajsummerschool.com/ ANTALL JÓZSEF KNOWLEDGE CENTRE

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Danube Regatta – 6 May 2017 The 2017 event of the Danube Regatta, Hungary’s biggest cultural, music, and sporting event, as well as an international rowing and dragon boat competition between universities, will be organised on 6 May 2017. Eighteen teams from Hungarian and foreign universities will come to Budapest to face off against each other on the most beautiful stretch of the Danube. Come to Műegyetem rakpart and encourage your favourite team. For further information, please visit dunairegatta.hu

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Condoleezza Rice: No Higher Honor Born into a family of intellectuals in Alabama, Condoleezza Rice was selected to be a member of the campaign staff of George W Bush in 2000. After the Republican nominee’s victory in 2000, she served during the two terms of the Bush administration first as National Security Advisor, then, from 2005 to 2009, as Secretary of State.

Her memoires chronicle these eight years, including top-level debates on the potential military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq following the 9/11 attacks, and her various foreign visits as America’s top diplomat, as part of which she often had to mediate between two opposing parties, repress dangers presented by dictatorial regimes, or facilitate the process of democratic governments taking power.

Through her reminiscences, Rice describes in detail the daily operation of diplomacy in a roughly two-hundred-year democracy, while depicting leading politicians, negotiating partners, and dictators who used to appear on a daily basis in media coverages around the world. The book also provides a peek into the meeting rooms where historic decisions defining the future lives of millions of people were made.

Tamás Péter Baranyi – Kinga Szálkai: The Quest of Turkish Foreign Policy at the Beginning of the 21st Century A Western “type” secular democracy or an empire following in the footsteps of the Ottoman Empire? An emerging middle power or a thirdworld country? For centuries, Turkey was one of the most defining countries in European history – both at its peak and its weakest period. Due to its geographical position, the Turkish Republic, established on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, connects regions and continents, thereby creating a bridge between the East and the West. In the nearly 100 years since it has been proclaimed as a republic, Turkey, with and without its Ottoman past, became a regionallyrecognised power, making it possible for her to promote her interests better.

Ambitious in their aims, the authors of the study collection and the researchers of the Antall József Knowledge Centre, summarise and analyse the geopolitical factors of the Turkish Republic in one single volume. Functioning both as a university textbook and a handbook, the book presents the main directions of Turkish foreign policy at the beginning of the 21st century that were influenced by the unique geopolitical position of the country. The volume, after a general geopolitical overview, offers a historical foundation, then introduces key areas of politics along with the bi- and multilateral relations of the country.

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INTERVIEW WITH THE PUBLISHER Péter Antall

The In Focus serious was launched with an issue on the 25th anniversary of the Visegrad Cooperation. The bimonthly publication of the Knowledge Centre presents a highlighted country or issue in order to provide accessible knowledge in scientific depth. In 2017, five issues have been published, and for the first Hungarian publication we interviewed Director Péter Antall.

In Focus: The idea of the Knowledge Centre emerged ten years ago and the institution has been operating for eight years, what were the milestone of the Centre’s activity?

Honouring the namesake of the Antall József Knowledge Centre, we give a special emphasis to the current issues of the Visegrad Cooperation, the European Union, and Atlanticism. The Knowledge Centre does not tackle current domestic issues, our work revolves around global issues and trends from the viewpoint of our permanent national interest. We have three major profiles: research, organising international scientific events and conferences, and book publishing.

Our work is built on three international offices (EU-V4, Transatlantic relations, Asian and African relations), and two thematic offices (Security Policy, Sustainable Development).

Apart from our main office in Budapest, we are present in two academic cities in Hungary, working closely together with the universities of Pécs and Győr. Our main mission is to enhance institutional and scientific cooperation between domestic and international institutions through conferences, workshops, and lecture 74

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series. We have an office in Brussels as well, which serves to spread our research results internationally and to further our cooperation with the EU institutions. We organises a great number of conferences and workshops with our foreign partners, mainly the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

The Publishing Office of the Knowledge Centre focuses on providing the Hungarian audience with the works of the greatest thinkers and public personalities in the field of politics and social sciences, that of both contemporary and past figures. Its work includes publishing professional publications and university textbooks, particularly in the fields of security policy, political science, and international relations.

In Focus: The Knowledge Centre’s mission is to maintain the Antall legacy, how does this manifest itself, above all in your work connected to international relations?

Our strategic priority for this year is to continue the establishment of our international network, focusing on research cooperation.

We have advanced discussions with Bar-Ilan University, the heads of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a numerous German and Russian think tanks, and we are proceeding

to conclude a partnership with a US-based university and research centre.

I often experience, and it is a honouring and heart-warming experience, that my father’s and grandfather’s memory and name invokes respect. In Europe, and in other countries in the world, such as Israel, the Antall name opens unique venues for building partnerships, as a high-ranking Polish governmental official once told me “The Antall name has a good ring to it here.” As their descendant, what I can do is to utilise the name for a good cause, talent management in our case, and to open doors which would be unthinkable for other think tanks.

The Antall family name has a good ring to it here We have a limited window of opportunity until the generation of politicians that worked with my father or perceived the regime change in Central-Eastern Europe is able to aid the Hungarian and Visegrad interests in Europe.

We have many examples in the world, in case of our Western allies as well, which show that the legacy of our great leaders can support the current and the permanent foreign policy interest of their country, let us think about the exemplary work of our partner, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. The Antall József Knowledge Centre has become an important institution in the Hungarian soft power in recent years.

The five key values which define our work are: the healthy respect for the Hungarian national interest, the Visegrad Cooperation, Europeanism, Atlanticism, and talent management. While we understand that the world order is changing, new powers are emerging with which Hungary has to deepen its relations; our basic compass is constituted by the unison of our cooperation with our regional neighbours, Western friends, and our largest ally, the United States. The highlighted role of talent management appears

in the makeup of our team, as they are young, talented, well-versed in international affairs, and also in our events, which serve chiefly to expand the knowledge of university students and young professionals in their early stage of career.

In Focus: Which are the most important events in 2017 to which one should pay the most attention?

I would highlight four programmes, and it is a non-exhaustive list. The first is the think.

BDPST conference, which is organised jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, aiming to be the largest regional conference on innovation. Due to the success of last year’s event, this year we have among our speakers such renowned foreign personalities as HE Dr Sheikh Mohammad Al-Salem Al-Sabah, former Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait, George Friedman, geopolitical analyst, and Daniel Hershkowitz, former Minister of Science and Technology of Israel.

We organise the Danube Regatta sports festival for the fifth time this year, at which twenty-five thousand university students will cheer the Hungarian and foreign teams in front of the University of Technology and Economics, reinforcing the spirit of togetherness between the universities.

Another highlighted programme of ours is the Antall József Summer School, which furthers the understanding of the Visegrad Cooperation among the foreign participants, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe. Each year, forty-five students receive a place from the hundreds of applicants.

Finally, at our BUDSEC 2017 security policy conference, we will discuss the changing regional order in the Middle East and the challenges of the fight against the Islamic State with European and Middle Eastern experts.

In Focus: You have mentioned research, as a main institutional profile. Exactly what type of research activities are undertaken at the Knowledge Centre?

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This year, the Knowledge Centre set three key areas for research: energetics, digitalisation, and smart cities. Our research publications this year cover mainly these issues.

Traditionally, the Knowledge Centre has very good international network; we have many partners in fifteen countries. My colleagues speak altogether in eighteen languages, and as such, we are able to analyse a question from a number of perspectives. The aim of our foreign policy think tank is to serve as a bridge between the academia, the decision making bodies, and the society, and among the latter primarily the youth. Our goal is to present the dynamics of our world shaped by complex issues in an accessible manner through our events, research, and book publishing. Our work, while it is independent from political parties and ideologies, is not value-neutral.

We aim to transfer knowledge based on the Antall legacy, which are the previouslymentioned Atlanticism and European and Visegrad ideas. To summarise: the Knowledge Centre provides a forum for domestic and international discussions on foreign policy.

I would also mention the In Focus magazine, about which we are now speaking currently.

As last year’s most important event in international relations was the US presidential election, our next issue will discuss the Trump administration and questions connected to American politics, economy, and society.

There are many important elections occurring this year, so we will have an issue on France and Germany, and a special edition on energy.

We attach great hopes to our new series as every ambassador, politician, and researcher Washington to Beijing, whom we asked to contribute, has accepted our invitation from.

In Focus: What are the most important tasks of a Central European foreign policy think tank?

The most important personal motivation in my work is the people whom we reach through our activity. We have managed to influence thousands of young people in the last ten years, 76

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may they be employees, interns, or university students. It gives me great satisfaction when I hear that our former colleagues and interns get a responsible job in the government, Brussels, or at another place on Earth, or to see university students every day, as they read the books we publish and participate in our events. It is important that what we do is easily accessible to those interested, this aim is served by our new homepage, through which all of our programmes, our research blog covering current issues, and the In Focus magazine can be accessed. We are active on social media as well, since we know that we have to open up to the students, and not to wait for them to discover us.

In Focus: If we look at all the books which were published by the Centre, a number of commonalities stand out. What guides the selection process for publishing a book?

We aim to provide those books that are missing from the Hungarian book market.

Financial revenue is not a prime goal, as these professional textbooks do not sell tens of thousands of copies. There are some exceptions, such as Henry Kissinger’s World Order, of which we are issuing the fifth reprint.

We primarily translate into Hungarian the works of those international experts whose knowledge would best serve the understanding of the most important countries’ politics, the most relevant international economic, and security policy trends.

In Focus: Our interview will appear in the issue on Israel, could you please share your thoughts on Israel and why is it important to discuss this country?

I would separate my answer into two parts. On the one hand, personally, my interest in Israel is rooted in the legacy of the Antall family, as my grandfather József Antall Sr received the Righteous Among the Nations award for saving many lives during the Second World War, which is considered one of the highest

A 2016-os Antall József Nyári Egyetem nyitóünnepsége

honours in Israel, and his memorial tree is located at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. My father was the first Hungarian prime minister who travelled to Israel on an official visit. I was awestruck last year by the immense scientific expertise and cultural diversity which I witnessed during my visit to Israel. This is why I think it is important that the Knowledge Centre conducts research on this state, which will be a highly influential country in the coming decades due to its dynamism and geographic location of vital importance.

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IN FOCUS: USA An unusual number of people seemed to have been invested in the 2016 US presidential election on this side of the Atlantic too. All over Europe, people debated the rivalry between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (and even the primaries) with as much intensity as if they themselves were citizens of the United States. Which is, of course, true to an extent: Our economies, foreign and domestic policies, social tendencies, and culture are all informed by the changes that take place in the US, and the previous year will no doubt be regarded as a turning point in all these aspects. Consequently, the upcoming issue of In Focus will provide an eclectic overview of the state of the nation at the end of 2016. Naturally, the person behind the number 45 will inevitably spend his fair share in the spotlight, but, in addition to the reasons behind and the potential consequences of his surprising victory, it is also important to look at the people who elected him and what they read, watch, and listen to—not to mention the legacy of his predecessor. Trump promised a course correction in all walks of American life.

Our next issue will thus offer a glimpse at this endeavor, as well as the course that Trump set out to correct.

Additional issues of In Focus are available on the webpage of the Knowledge Centre, www.ajtk.hu.

Please kindly note that In Focus can be downloaded free of charge after registration.

CONTACT INFORMATION

IMPRINT

Antall József Knowledge Centre

Publisher: Péter Antall, Director

Address: 1093 Budapest, Czuczor street, 2.

Editor-in-Chief: Ádám Kégler

Web: www.ajtk.hu

Editor: Zsolt Csepregi

Telephone: +36 20 310 87 76

Corrector: Edit Maros

E-mail: ajtk@ajtk.hu

Layout and Pre-press Preparation: Gergely Kiss Cover picture: The city of Netanya at sunrise Photo credit: Shutterstock

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