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| Local News
ON A MISSION
Former Israeli ambassador to Egypt will speak next weekend in Columbia
AMBASSADOR SHALOM COHEN
It became worse and worse.
By Maayan Jaffe
Walk us through the highlight s of y our career. How did y ou get to w here y ou are today ?
COHEN: I was born in Tunisia. I left when I was 5, with my parents, and immigrated to Israel. I grew up like a normal Israeli. I come from a more traditional family; I was a yeshiva bachur. I left the religious world and became more academic and secular, and after the army I went to the Hebrew University to study. I have a degree in international relations and political science. I have been an Israeli diplomat all over the world. What ultimately drew you to Tunisia?
My main expertise and focus is on the Arab world. And because of my family being from Tunisia and my upbringing, it was easier for me [than some others] to go deeper into the Arab world and to work with the Arabs. That’s how I found myself as the first Israeli ambassador to Tunisia. I was 40 years old.
It was like going full circle. When my family le Tunisia, we were running away. When I went back as an ambassador, I was very welcome — at least in the beginning. Explain.
The Oslo agreement started in ‘93, and in ‘95 Tunisia and Israel agreed to have relations. I arrived at the beginning of 1996. My official title was not ambassador, but I was more the head of the Israeli mission. … I opened the Israeli interest bureau.
I s there an ambassador t here now?
I was replaced by another Israeli ambassador for less then one year. When the second intifada started, the [Tunisian government] asked all Israeli representatives to leave; the Arab League had made a decision in 2000 to freeze any relations with Israel and to ask all countries with diplomatic missions to withdraw them and send the Israelis back home. Since then, we have nothing with Tunis. Are all the Jews gone, t oo?
But things ch anged?
My period in Tunisia reflects the ups and downs of Israel’s relationship with the Arab world. When I started, the Tunisians felt that the Oslo Accords would be fulfilled … and that a Palestinian state would be born in the coming months or years. The attitude at the beginning toward the Israeli delegation was quite friendly, open and welcoming. My first meeting with the minister of foreign affairs in Tunisia was very warm and very cordial and respectful. When I first I arrived at my home I found a beautiful bouquet of flowers, delivered by the prime minister. … These were the days of hope. … But by the time I le, in 2000, the Tunisians felt there was no advancement as expected. … So they gradually changed their attitude toward the Israeli delegation. We felt not desired anymore. There were no responses to our requests. … We could not have any more high-level meetings or even contacts. … There were no more invitations to dinners, receptions. It was pretty clear they wanted the Israeli politicians to know they were unhappy with what was going on.
There are still Jews in Tunisia, about 1,700 to 1,800 people — mostly in the capital and other major areas. … They are keeping the community alive. They have a synagogue. Are t hey O K since the Arab Sprin g?
There is tension in the street and always a fear [the situation] will turn against them. There have been declarations coming from some radical movements against the Jews, but those declarations are sporadic. The head of the Jewish community there received assurance from the new regime that it will do its utmost to keep the Jewish community secure. That’s different. Would you say the country is not anti-Jewish but anti-Israeli?
Even in this new era, the regime distinguishes between Israelis and the Jewish people. In Tunisia, the Jewish community lives normally, and it receives protection from the government. Even after the regime became more Islamist, the Jewish community was not affected. The regime looks at Israel as a political entity, and this new regime is much more against Israel than the previous one. Now, the
Shalom Cohen, former ambassador to Egypt, says the Egypt-Israeli peace will hold.
attitude against Israel is not only political but religious. The Islamist attitude is worsening. … We are making efforts to renew dialogue, but I understand these efforts are really not successful. Would you describe Tunisia as pro-Palestinian or anti-I srae li?
The previous regime was pro-Palestinian but not anti-Israel. As long as the Israelis were trying to solve the Palestinian conflict, they were open to us. But in Tunisia, after the Arab spring, they are even more pro-Palestinian, and their attitude toward Israel is anti, too. Even if we solved the Palestinian problem and there was an agreement between the Palestinians and Israel, it is hard to imagine that Tunisia would open up [to Israel] and want to have an embassy, etc. That would take much more than it did in 1996. Le t’s t alk abou t Egypt. What do yo u expect from Egy ptian President Morsi?
The new regime in Egypt is working on two tracks. On the one side, its political activities are signaling to the Western world (specifically America) that it can be trusted and it can be worked with, that it is not very radical. They are trying to convince the president [Barack Obama] that this is a modern and open regime. … This is because Egypt needs U.S. assistance. It needs a lot of money. Egypt See On A Mission on page 26 jewishtimes.com
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Provided
has dedicated his life to Israel — sometimes almost literally. A distinguished member of Israel’s Foreign Ministry and a specialist in the Arab world, Cohen was chairman of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegation to Tunisia from 1996 to 2000 and Israel’s ambassador to Egypt from 2005 to 2010. He also served in Congo (Zaire), Canada and Belgium. Today, Cohen is the Baye diplomatin-residence at e Washington Institute. He will speak on Israel and the Arab world at Beth Shalom Congregation’s Friday night services on Dec. 14. Ahead of his talk, the JT asked the ambassador about his experiences.
What was it like to go back t o you r birth place?