Ukrainian-born Israeli Naomi Ben-Ami returned to her native land this autumn to take up her first posting as an ambassador.
llenging time.
With the world dealing with the aftermath of the war in Iraq and Israel engaged in one of the most intensive periods of fighting with the Palestinians in recent years, diplomacy and the art of making and maintaining alliances has become more crucial than ever. Israel, moreover, continues to cultivate its relations with Ukraine. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, some 400,000 migrants have left Ukraine for Israel under the Jewish law of return. Then there is the issue of Ukraine’s considerable Jewish community, which represents for the 43-year-old ambassador a second, and sometimes highly divided, constituency.
Ben-Ami is a mother of two boys and wife to Udi Ben-Ami, head of the embassy’s consular section. She presented her credentials to President Leonid Kuchma on Sept. 29, and spoke with the Post on Oct. 16.
Q: Can you sum up the current state of Israeli-Ukrainian relations?
A: Israel’s relations with Ukraine are very good. But actually there is one field that I would like to see deepened and enlarged – the economic field – because we are always talking about the great potential between our two countries, especially because of the number of immigrants who have come from here. But it’s not enough just to talk about it; we must do more – and the Ukrainian side must try to provide a better economic atmosphere, and one with a solid legal basis. But I really do hope we can do more in the economic field, and there’s a Ukrainian delegation led by [Economy Minister Valery] Khoroshkovsky that will soon be meeting with Israel’s minister of trade and industry. We hope to strengthen our cooperation in agriculture, telecommunications and medicine in particular.”
Q: Ukraine has experienced a hot-and-cold relationship with the United States, Israel’s principal ally, since the launch of President George W. Bush’s so-called war on terrorism – and which included accusations of illegal arms sales to Iraq. How much does the United States’ position on Ukraine dictate Israel’s position?
A: The Americans’ relations with certain countries do affect our relations with those countries. And, of course, the scandals concerning weapons sales to Iraq or other countries in the region concern us very much. But we also try not to interfere in the domestic politics of the countries we have relations with. We’re also not a country that can impose penalties on others; we’re too small and have a lot of our own problems.”
Q: Obviously, it’s a benefit in terms of familiarity when Israel can place into countries diplomats who come from the region. What’s your own connection with Ukraine and the former Soviet Union?
A: I was born in Chernivtsi, but our family lived for most of the time in Kazakhstan, because my parents are medical doctors and were sent to work all over the Soviet Union. I was 13 when we emigrated in 1973, and excited about the move – though without really thinking about either Israel or the Soviet Union in particular. But because we arrived in Jerusalem just two weeks before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, it was a difficult time, and one that provoked very deep impressions – and one I think helped quicken my absorption into Israeli life.
Q: What has your experience been returning to work in the former Soviet Union?
A: My first position in the FSU was in the Baltic states, out of our embassy in Riga. It wasn’t an easy thing for my parents to see me return to the region, and my own feelings were also quite ambivalent. I was sure I would go back and simply focus on work. But that was just the beginning, in 1992, and it was a very interesting time in which to witness a new country being born. My work in Moscow [as consul for political affairs between 1996-2000] continued along that theme – with the establishment of relations between the two countries after so many years. We worked in every field – political and economic and cultural and with the Jewish community.
I think there’s been quite a bit of success in the cultural sphere, for instance; because even now several times a week there is someone visiting Israel from Russia: a singer, a theater company, whatever.
Q: What about your own connections with independent Ukraine?
A: My first time back to Ukraine was in May, 1999, to visit my good friend [former ambassador Anna Azari], but I still haven’t been back to Chernivtsi. I understand it’s in need of a lot of renovation, but I also remember it as a beautiful city: the buildings, the architecture. Certainly, it doesn’t happen every day that an ambassador arrives in the country where they were born; actually, I think it’s very rare. I also think it’s a challenge for me to work here as a result. I feel I have to do more than someone who wasn’t born here, but that is just my feeling.
Q: There are as many as half a million Jews living in Ukraine. How much do you consider yourself an ambassador to Ukraine, and how much as ambassador to the country’s Jewish population?
A: I am ambassador to Ukraine, but we work with Jewish communities all over the world, and working with them here is quite a big part of my job. We need them as much as they need us. We need their moral support, especially at this time.
Q: How does the embassy maintain balance among its relations with the various segments of the Jewish community – the elderly and young, religious and secular, and the various Orthodox movements – especially in cases of internal conflict, such as the controversy over plans to construct a community center at Babyn Yar?
A: I’ve been received very warmly in Ukraine, and the embassy has no problems with any particular community. They understand we can’t take sides, and we don’t interfere in their internal politics. They may approach us, but they know we can’t accept.
Q: What about your participation in the Sept. 8 presentation of Rabbi Azrael Haikin of Brussels in Kyiv, and the speculation that his arrival in Ukraine represents an effort by his Chabad-Lubavitch movement to challenge the authority of the recognized chief rabbi of Ukraine, Yaakov Dov Bleich?
A: I went there to welcome the delegation of the chief rabbi of Israel [Jonah Metzer]. I spoke to all the Jews gathered both inside and outside the presentation hall. It’s quite easy to work with the leaders of all the religious communities.
Q: Is there no concern by Israel, a secular state, that foreign-born Orthodox Jews are playing such a prominent role in the rebirth of Judaism in Ukraine – and in the leadership of a largely non-religious Jewish population?
A: No.
Q: How does the embassy balance its work with major international Jewish organizations working in Ukraine? Philosophically, the Jewish Agency for Israel, or Sokhnut, and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee are directly opposed: with Sokhnut encouraging migration to Israel and the AJJDC working with Jewish communities wherever they choose to exist.
A: I think there have been some changes in their policies. The AJJDC has become a little more pro-Israel and Sokhnut has begun to work more with communities here in Ukraine – and not just bringing them to Israel – through educational programs, for instance. So the borders of their work have begun to shift and overlap. I think they’ve reached this point because of what’s been happening here over the past 10 years: Communities, rich communities, have developed here, just as they have in other countries.
Q: But what about the future of Jewish Ukraine? Pessimists predict that an aging population plus migration means there won’t be a Jewish population in Ukraine within two or three generations.
A: I don’t think everyone will leave, migrate. This will probably never happen – I think there will always be a Jewish community in Ukraine.
Q: What direct role does the embassy play in funding programs?
A: The embassy can’t contribute anything right now. But we still do have a budget and we have our projects – we cooperate with Sokhnut and we carry out our work.
