Israeli settler-turned-diplomat to take new post in NY
JERUSALEM (AP) — For years, Dani Dayan was the West Bank settler movement’s face to the outside world. Next week, he’ll become the face of Israel to much of North America.
Dayan takes office Aug. 1 as Israel’s new consul general in New York, overseeing his country’s biggest diplomatic mission and serving as its representative to the world’s financial and cultural capital.
He will also be in charge of outreach to the largest Jewish community outside Israel at a time of disagreements over Mideast peace and Jewish pluralism.
Dayan’s appointment reflects the settler movement’s strong influence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
It’s also a personal victory for Dayan, whose previous appointment as ambassador to Brazil was scuttled earlier this year, apparently because of Brazil’s opposition to his settler ties. The international community, including Israel’s closest friends, opposes Israeli settlements on lands occupied since the 1967 war, saying they undermine prospects for establishing an independent Palestinian state.
Dayan, a personable and soft-spoken former high-tech businessman, downplayed the blowup with Brazil, saying he only accepted the appointment under pressure from Netanyahu while the New York post was always his first choice. “I want to be at the forefront of Israel’s diplomacy, and the forefront of Israel’s diplomacy is New York,” Dayan told The Associated Press.
Dayan will be responsible for a fivestate territory that is home to some 40 percent of the American Jewish population of 6.8 million. New York and New Jersey alone have more than 2.2 million Jews.
Dayan will find communities that may have a strong affinity for Israel, but also strongly disagree with his government’s policies, particularly the younger generation.
“Most Jews are liberal, many are highly liberal,” said Steven Cohen, an expert on the American Jewish community at Hebrew Union CollegeJewish Institute of Religion. “Those who are — generally younger, non-Orthodox, highly educated and US-born — are likely to care little about Israel and care even less for the policies extolled ... by Israel’s new consul general.”
Peter Beinart, a prominent liberal commentator, predicted Dayan will be welcomed by the mainstream American Jewish leadership. But “for progressive Jews, he’ll be just one more reason to feel alienated from a government they already consider morally alien,” Beinart said.
Dayan said he welcomes the opportunity to discuss the rifts. He said he plans to spend a “hugely disproportionate slot” of time meeting with Israel’s supporters disenchanted with Netanyahu’s policies.