NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- With the Jewish New Year less than a month away, it seems fitting -- although it is a coincidence since the Israeli government places a 5-year limit on overseas postings -- that it'll be a year of new beginnings for Israel Nitzan, the acting consul general of Israel in New York, who ends his tenure on Thursday.
"I learned a lot," Nitzan, who lives in Queens with his American wife and their four children, tells 1010 WINS about being stationed in New York City. "First of all, about our relationships, and I learned a lot about the fact that we have many friends here. Many friends who are committed to this relationship and they can count on us and we can count on them, and it's real, it's authentic and I'm so proud to have actually contributed to this relationship in the last five years."
Nitzan and the consulate played a key role in Mayor Eric Adams' trip to Israel this week, which included meeting with business and political leaders in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
While in Israel, Adams tweeted, "Israel and New York City have so much in common. We share the same drive to always be better, and to fight for democracy, prosperity, and peace. That's why Israel and New York City will always remain great partners."
Nitzan, who has also served at the Israeli embassy in Cairo and at the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations, added that Israelis and New Yorkers, in his opinion, are similar.
"I'll tell you, New Yorkers are just like Israelis," Nitzan added, "We're perceived as the Sabra (Hebrew word to describe an Israeli-born person, particularly someone who is to-the-point). You know, where we have spikes, we can be critical, and can be direct and blunt. And I think that is also when you're talking about the average New Yorker. So I think that we're much alike in many ways."
"And, and this is something that I'm I'm taking with me," he said. "It was the honor of my life to serve here and it's an amazing and incredible experience
(Below, an abridged version of the above audio interview)
It’s a contentious and polarizing time in Israel right now, specifically as it pertains to the country’s judicial reforms. Aside from widespread protests by Israelis, the reforms have also sparked criticism and even some protests outside the consulate here. There’s an expression, “getting out of Dodge.” Are you “getting out of Dodge” just in time?
I've been so honored to serve in New York over the past five years. It is an incredible city with a thriving Jewish community but, also so other many other wonderful communities with which we have wonderful relationships. There really is no other place in the world like New York.
In this case, my term is coming to an end at the consulate. I reached the peak of the cap of five years and five years is a long time and a long period, and it's been amazing but it is time to conclude my mission here and to move on to do something else. We have a limit: we have a maximum of five years abroad and a minimum of two years in Israel.
Photo credit Shahar Azran/Getty Images
Asaf Zamir, Israel’s consul general in New York for 18 months, resigned in March, tweeting, “it is now time for me to join the fight for Israel's future to ensure it remains a beacon of democracy and freedom in the world.” What was your reaction?
I respect Asaf Zamir’s decision. He was a political appointee. He was appointed by the former government ... And I understand. And again, this is what he said, that he won’t be able to represent this current government. So basically I’m concluding five years as a career diplomat, as a civil servant, and not part of this political reality.
So what’s next for you?
I’m still thinking about it. My focus right now is on my family. I have a wonderful wife and four kids (16, 14, 12-year-old-twins).
You know, I’ve been doing this for 22 years now. This is my fourth diplomatic posting abroad. I served two terms in Egypt and two assignments in New York, one in our UN Mission.
This is not just a job or a career, but actually it's a way of life when you actually take your kids and family, moving them from one place to another. I acknowledge the price that they pay for my job.
And I couldn't have done it without the support of my wife and family. And so my focus is the needs of my family first.
Who’s going to replace you? Gal Gadot has name recognition and star presence!
"Wonder Woman" is coming to New York to replace me. Definitely. I’m joking. As incredible as Gal Gadot is, I think she’s too busy making us proud as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
We will not have Wonder Woman but a wonderful diplomat and collegeue. His name is Tsach Saar. He’s currently the deputy ambassador in Athens, Greece. I'm writing a document right now, which is basically the manual for what to do and and how to work with this extraordinary community and millions of people who believe that they have this very close relationship with Israel here.
What piece of advice do you have for Saar?
Listen, our job here is to build relationships. So I think that the first thing that he needs to do is to be a mensch.
And the second thing is, is to show up. It's not only enough to be a mensch and to have good conversations and relationships with people, but actually you build a relationship by showing up, and, and being there. It's true for the Jewish community. And it's true for other communities as well. We have great relationships with different communities here in the city.
Can you speak to those relationships with other communities, such as the Puerto Rican and Asian communities?
I’ll give you an example. We have great relations here of course with the Hispanic community, with the Puerto Rican community.
Every year there is a conference in Puerto Rico, it's called the Somo conference and we’re very proud of sponsoring these conferences.
(Somo’s mission is “to unite the Latino community in New York state, raise awareness, advocate, and promote social consciousness on public policy in collaboration with the government.”)
Israel has invested a lot in its relationship with Puerto Rico, especially after Hurricane Maria.
IsraAID, which is an Israeli NGO providing humanitarian assistance, actually built their water purification systems and, supported the different villages.
So we actually work with them over there in a way that is also meaningful to the Puerto Rican community here.
One of the things that is very high on our agenda is fighting antisemitism, but we're also supporting the Asian community against anti-Asian hate.
I think that our consulate was the only consulate attending a rally in Queens, I think it was about two years ago, the main rally, in Flushing.
There is a common fight, where racism is racism and hatred is hatred and we're fighting hate and we're fighting racism.
I'm a resident of Queens so it was clear that, that we need to be there and to show up to support our Asian friends and partners and neighbors. It's important to be there. It’s important to show up to show that the state of Israel is standing with our partners here, our friends here and making this relationship even more meaningful than what it is.
There’s definitely an unfortunate bond between many communities in New York City that experience hate and bigotry.
Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people was actually reborn out of the ashes of the Holocaust. We have a responsibility -- it's a moral, a historic responsibility to support our sisters and brothers, Jews around the world when they're under attack.
But at the same time, we are also working with other communities here and we're standing up against hatred when it comes to other communities like the Asian community and other communities, as well.
Let’s shift gears a bit to a Gallup poll from this past March: According to the poll, Democrats’ sympathies in the Middle East now lie more with the Palestinians than the Israelis, 49% versus 38%. Does this surprise you?
I think that it’s important to say -- that to know that the vast majority of Americans from both sides of the aisle -- and again, as difficult as it is keeping everything today bipartisan, they continue to stand to stand with Israel.
But Israel is more than the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Our job here is to continue work in building these relationships and to create these meaningful relationships that go beyond the news, beyond the perceptions of a certain conflict in our region.
Sometimes especially in such polls and certain questions -- the situation in the Middle East is very complicated -- and sometimes people miss the nuanced view of the complexities and I think that this is part of our effort to, first of all, to explain the situation and to share the information about the realities on the ground and again, that are complicated.
I think that you can find other polls and you can find other ways to present these questions. And we have many friends within the Democratic Party.
I think that Israel and Israelis have so much to contribute to America and Americans and, and to the strong relationship and the deep mutual relationship that we have.
OK, so let’s talk about Israel’s cultural contribution to the U.S., starting with food – there seems to be no shortage of Israeli restaurants in New York City.
I'll tell you, we're so proud to be the startup nation, but it seems that, with all due respect to the high tech sector in Israel, I think that culinary is something now. You asked my my favorite restaurant, there are so many and it's difficult to choose … there was a wave of amazing Israeli restaurants opening in New York, it's so cool to see.
If you can actually recommend me of a good place for Hummus, it would be great!
Speaking of Israel’s cultural contribution to the U.S. Israeli director and producer Guy Nattiv’s film “Golda” -- starring Helen Mirren as Israeli president Golda Meir and Live Schreiber as U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissenger – arrives in theaters Friday.
You started with one Israeli Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and we're moving to another one, but it’s Golda! I understand Helen Mirren expressed that it was one of the best roles she's ever played. It's going to be a very exciting movie.
To have the story portrayed on the silver screen, and of course, have the iconic Helen Mirren, is a wonderful thing.
Golda was the fourth female head of state in the world and really a trailblazer when in a very critical point of time in time for Israel. …. I'm very, very excited to watch it. It’ll probably introduce a lot of people who are unfamiliar with her.
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins Sept. 15. What are your plans?
I'm going to spend the holiday with my family. No special plans this year. I'm looking forward to a real meaningful holiday with my kids and my wife. That'll be nice.
Related
Related
Related
