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SAN DIEGO — Hillel Newman, the South African-born, Israeli consul general in Los Angeles, has practiced highly confidential private diplomacy as the former Israeli ambassador to the Muslim countries of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Now, notwithstanding coronavirus restrictions, he is engaged in highly public diplomacy that seeks to demonstrate the Jewish state’s friendship for minority communities in the American southwest.
In a telephone interview last Friday, Newman said the two diplomatic positions are quite different, and although the title of “ambassador” gives the impression of being a higher rank than “consul general,” such is not the case. He said a young junior diplomat can become an ambassador in a small country, but not have nearly the rank of an ambassador in an industrialized European country, nor of a consul-general in a major center of population such as Los Angeles.
“The title does not reflect the actual rank of each individual,” he said. “A consul-general in one place can rank higher than an ambassador in another place. It is where you are situated and how many people are served by you.”
With all of Southern California his responsibility, along with such states as Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Hawaii, Newman deals with a population that exceeds those of many nations in the world. Were these ordinary times, he would be regularly traveling to each one of the states, giving speeches, attending receptions, and participating in various official functions. The coronavirus pandemic has made that impossible, however, so his staff at the Consulate General of Israel has helped him deal in several different ways with the effects of the coronavirus.
One situation involved a cruise ship that was temporarily docked in San Diego because of the outbreak of coronavirus that caused the cruise ship company to discontinue the cruise. Israeli passengers aboard the ship had not intended to visit the United States so did not have U.S. visas. The problem for the consulate was getting the passengers off the ship and onto an Israeli-bound airplane. Working with the American bureaucracy, the consulate was able to arrange for the Israelis’ repatriation.
At the onset of the pandemic earlier this year, Israel needed to purchase in California various items of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for its front-line workers, which Newman helped to arrange. Within a month, he said, Israel’s own factories were producing sufficient quantities of PPE to make further purchases unnecessary.
Emphasizing its solidarity with the people of Los Angeles, and especially the front-line responders amid the pandemic, the Consulate General expressed those sentiments on billboards overlooking the Interstate 10 and elsewhere.
Additionally, it underwrote $50,000 worth of computers for students in the Latino and African American communities of Los Angeles, with other distributions planned in the future, the diplomat said.
Asked if as a former ambassador to two Muslim countries, he had any insights into the unfolding peace process between Israel and Bahrain and Israel and the United Arab Emirates, he disclosed that he had accompanied then Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz on one preparatory trip to the UAE a year ago July. Asked if he could state specifically what role he had played, he demurred saying that such discussions are confidential. However, he said, “it was quite clear that there was a shared sense of kinship.” He made that trip as a Special Policy Advisor to the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Prior to that assignment he had served as ambassador to the neighboring former Soviet Republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, where he was pleasantly surprised by how warm a welcome he received. “You are not used to that when you are living in the Middle East,” he said. “You are so used to Middle Eastern Islam which is radicalized and politicized that you forget that there is an Islam that feels very friendly towards Israel and the Jewish people. In fact, they feel that we are part of the same Abrahamic family — Abraham having been the father of Isaac and Ishmael. There is a lot of Islam out there that feels a kindship toward Jews. There is an Islam that likes the Jews, likes us as a people, and likes the concept of a Jewish state.
“Initially,” he added, “that was a shock to me, but I got used to it, and as a result I am not surprised that the UAE and Bahrain stepped forward to make peace with Israel.” He said Israel is in discussions with between 5 and 10 Muslim countries that do not currently have diplomatic relations, and predicted more would make peace with Israel.
Newman has a PhD in Jewish History and has taught courses at Boston University and at Bar-Ilan University. Asked what impact Israel’s peacemaking with the Gulf States would have on the Palestinians, he predicted that it will alter the course of Palestinian diplomacy. Until now, he said, the Palestinians have refused to negotiate with Israel, rejecting every peace offer without making a counter-offer. With other Arab nations having grown tired of this rejectionism, Palestinians eventually will realize that time is not on their side. Up to now, Palestinians thought they could force concessions from Israel through multilateral forums. Now, Newman said, Palestinian leaders are beginning to realize that they do not have automatic backing from other Muslim nations and the non-aligned bloc. Such a realization may persuade Palestinians to negotiate directly with Israel, he said.
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Political bytes
*Congressional candidates Sara Jacobs and Georgette Gomez debated in a Zoom session moderated by Editor Chris Jennewein of Times of San Diego, and closely covered by that publication’s associate editor Ken Stone. The major takeaway from that event, according to Stone’s story, was Jacobs’ prediction that if Vice President Joe Biden wins the election and President Trump refuses either to concede or to vacate the White House, the matter ultimately may have to be decided by the military.
Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com