We must bring G-d into the story. If we are in Eretz Yisroel because of the Balfour Declaration or a decision by the United Nations General Assembly, if we are here by an act of kindness and not by our own right, then indeed, we are living on property belonging to others. If someone – the United Nations, Balfour – showed us compassion by allowing us to live here, then indeed, we have to keep apologizing all the time for stealing someone else’s land.
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
Former Yesha Council chairman Danny Dayan, Israel’s new ambassador to Brazil | United Nations ambassador Danny Danon
1.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, Danny Danon was one of the leading right-wing hawks in the Israeli government. The young Knesset Member, who fought virtually on his own within the previous left-of-center government and the current one, has become a symbol of the battle to preserve the territorial integrity of Eretz Yisroel. Today, Danon is on his way to the United Nations to represent the struggle for shleimus ha’aretz on the most difficult battlefront for Israeli diplomacy.
Danny Dayan, former Yesha Council chairman, is also considered a central figure in the Israeli nationalist camp. Dayan is now en route to Brazil – one of the most vitally important countries in Israel’s public diplomacy campaign regarding world trade relations and more. Dayan will have to fight the anti-Israeli boycott, divestment, and sanctions in the coming years on one of the most decisive and divisive fronts in our international affairs.
It seems that someone in the higher echelons of Israeli policymaking has decided to move from apologies to public diplomacy. Perhaps this was none other than that once young ambassador who used to stand resolutely with the Tanach against the world, claiming our right to Eretz Yisroel with absolute determination. This time, he may have again recalled what the Rebbe had told him when he was Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. At the time, the Rebbe explained to him that the UN is a house of lies and in order to drive out the falsehoods, he has to light a small candle – “a little light dispels much darkness.”
What happened to Israeli public diplomacy since that encounter at Hakafos on Simchas Torah 5745 between the Rebbe and the man who later became prime minister of Israel? “Shortly after I came here to the United Nations as ambassador – and this was many years ago, I met with the Lubavitcher Rebbe,” Binyamin Netanyahu later recalled. “It was the night of Simchas Torah. There were thousands of Chassidim in the hall. He asked to speak with me. We started talking. He spoke Hebrew, perfect Hebrew… Five minutes, ten minutes, and the Chassidim were getting very restless… After forty minutes, he stopped…The Rebbe said many things to me that night, but he said one big thing. He said, ‘You will go into a house of lies,’ that’s how he referred to [that] particular institution. ‘Remember that in a hall of perfect darkness, if you light one small candle, its precious light will be seen from afar, by everyone. Your mission is to light a candle for truth and for the Jewish People.’
“That is what I have tried to do ever since,” he concluded. “This is what we are all asked to do. There is only one way to dispel the pitch-black darkness of Holocaust denial and the hatred of Jews: present the truth in a courageous manner, repeating it again and again and again…”
2.
However, when the Prime Minister of Israel stands at the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly and proclaims that a ‘Palestinian’ state must be created in Eretz HaKodesh, he has taken our rightful claim to the Jewish homeland and pulled it out from under his feet. Even if he would justify our right to defend ourselves against our enemies, this would be a victory on points, not on the battlefield. Their central claim still remains in force: this is not our land ch”v. The Arabs claim that this is their land: they had been here and we drove them out. And what is our response? ‘They are murdering and slaughtering us, and it is our right to defend ourselves…’ The average person cannot accept such a claim, for in his estimation, there is no reason for someone to protect himself in a place where he has no moral right to be. If you have a problem, pack up and leave. In the eyes of the world, the unfortunate Arab is always being oppressed. Even when they condemn the frightful acts of bloodshed by terrorists, in the same breath, they display tremendous tolerance and understanding toward those who have been wrongfully deprived of their homes.
Up until now, we’ve had some excellent emissaries at the United Nations and throughout the world. They passed top-level courses, acquiring fine qualities in rhetoric and extraordinary diplomatic skills. Yet, while they managed to achieve much popularity and develop a sense of empathy for their mission, they found many doors closed to them. With all their personal chemistry, the heart eventually connects to the downtrodden people banished from their land far more than to the aggressive conqueror that periodically endures murderous terrorist attacks.
The problem has never been with our ambassadors’ unique talents, rather with their narrative. Instead of using public diplomacy, they have been making apologies.
“Listen to a story,” the standard Israeli spokesman would claim. “Six million of our people were murdered only because they didn’t have their own country and an army to protect them. Then, after we went like lambs to the slaughter, we decided to ask for a place of refuge where we could be safe and protected.” And why are the Arab refugees who fled during the War of Independence to blame? Here’s where the apologies begin.
It turns out that there’s only one argument that can stand up against the world – the one that the Rebbe demanded on numerous occasions from people dealing with the issue of international relations:
We must bring G-d into the story. If we are in Eretz Yisroel because of the Balfour Declaration or a decision by the United Nations General Assembly, if we are here by an act of kindness and not by our right, then we have no right to be here. If someone – the United Nations, Balfour – showed us compassion by letting us live here, then indeed, we have to keep apologizing all the time for stealing someone else’s land.
3.
Suddenly, a new generation of diplomatic spokesmen has arisen, people who don’t apologize and are not embarrassed to talk about the Tanach, our right to Eretz Yisroel, and the Divine promise of “I will give this land to you.” This has resulted in some fascinating alliances with many people from the world at-large. They include some prominent United States Senators from the Republican Party, who are prepared to join us in advancing a new public relations approach, which is essentially the oldest of all. As a result, belief in the Tanach, which the Rebbe frequently said is shared by the whole world, has become the best line of defense. It provides us with logical arguments that Eretz Yisroel is our homeland, and therefore, that’s why we’re here. Even from a historical standpoint, these claims strengthen the best possible facts: Jews have been living in the Holy Land for an uninterrupted string of generations stretching over thousands of years since Avraham Avinu.
One of the leading spokesmen for this new PR offensive is Yossi Dagan, who initiated the project arranging hospitality in Yehuda and Shomron for intelligence representatives from all over the world. He once told about a meeting he had with a member of the United States Senate, who claimed emphatically that we have no right to control the “West Bank.” Dagan proceeded to take out the maps and show the Senator the location of Shilo, Beit E-l, Mt. Grizim, Yosef’s Tomb, Emek Dotan, and all the places that our forefathers had inhabited as mentioned in the Tanach. Suddenly, the Senator held his head in his hands in a display of sheer amazement, as he realized that the “West Bank” was none other than the Biblical Samaria. It turned out that prior to that meeting, not a single Israeli diplomat had ever told him this fundamental truth. Officials from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs travel throughout the globe, representing the IDF and Eretz HaKodesh, equipped with apologies and excuses – and without any rational explanations.
A few weeks ago, Yossi Dagan was selected as chairman of the Shomron Regional Council, the leading settler representative body in Yehuda and Shomron. This appointment grants him the authority to implement the new explanatory policy at formal conferences as an official envoy of Eretz Yisroel and head of the largest municipal council beyond the Green Line, unapologetically representing the Holy Tanach.
Dagan, only thirty-four years of age, represents the new generation: He makes no excuses and doesn’t just utter slogans. He’s not embarrassed to wear a kippa on his head and he’s proud of his Jewish faith. He walks unashamedly in all corners of the globe and speaks about G-d as the only true “proof of ownership” on our rights to Eretz Yisroel. The first generation of the settler movement dealt only with building – “another dunam, another goat.” Today’s younger generation knows how to build impressive projects, but it also understands that there are other struggles that cannot be abandoned. It does not neglect the international arena for diplomats who have forgotten who gave us this land, settling instead for excuses and explanations, e.g., “The facts are that we truly wanted to make peace with the Arabs, but they refused.”
These recent public diplomatic and ambassadorial appointments have aroused much criticism from the political left in Israel. In their perception, this deprives them of their last basis for support: the ability to say that the world is against us and we can’t justify our presence in Yehuda and Shomron. Thus far, such an approach has worked quite well for them. They send their finest representatives to stammer before the nations of the world, and these nations reject the ridiculous claims that we came here and drove out the Arabs only because we had nowhere else to go. Now, the new diplomacy is taking shape, as it seeks to restore a little of our lost respect in the eyes of the world and preserve our valued international relations.
Now, all that’s left for us to do is hope that this new spirit will also pervade Israeli politics. Who knows – maybe the Prime Minister of Israel will eventually be convinced as well?