Michael Herzog, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, recently visited Kansas City and spoke to the Jewish community about timely Israeli topics and issues.
Dan Elbaum, Jewish Agency for Israel’s (JAFI) Head of North America, served as moderator for the discussion.
The discussion was held on May 10 at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, and was preceded by a joint prayer for the U.S. and Israel led by Rabbi Stephanie Kramer. Karen Pack, Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s JAFI board representative, introduced Elbaum, and Karen Glickstein, board president of Jewish Community Relations Bureau|AJC Kansas City, introduced Herzog.
The wide-ranging discussion covered timely topics, including Israel’s recent internal conflict about judicial reform in the government. Herzog said that the political issues do not weaken the Israeli military, and that the public demonstrations and governmental debates prove that Israeli democracy is working.
“[The fact that] there were hundreds of thousands of people going out in the street, to me is a testament to the resilience of Israel’s democracy,” he said. “From both sides — mostly nonviolent, peaceful… I have not seen any other country where people want to voice their concerns and opinions the way they did in Israel.”
When prompted about the rest of the world’s views on the judicial reform situation in Israel, Herzog said, “People are concerned, and I see that as a sign that they care… But I say to everybody, ‘Don’t be judgemental before we see an outcome.’ This is a process.” He also emphasized that there is no chance of Israel becoming a dictatorship.
The recent uptick of violence from Gaza was also addressed. When asked about the future of the situation, Herzog responded that “you have to be very careful about predictions… We are still left with the basic question of what to do with a small area, the Gaza Strip, controlled by terror organizations who care about destroying Israel violently rather than the wellbeing of their nation.”
Herzog said Israeli/Palestinian relations are at a “low point, politically,” and that at the moment, peace negotiations are unlikely due to circumstances regarding Israel’s five elections in three and a half years and the state of the Palestinian Authority — namely, its aging leader (87-year-old Mahmoud Abbas) and internal strife between the P.A. and Hamas. Herzog said that there is no point in beginning negotiations if there is no chance that they will produce results, but that future negotiations will happen.
“Once we do go back to the table, we should look at all dimensions [of a peace plan],” he said.
Herzog shared some of his experiences from Israeli/Palestinian peace negotiations. Negotiating is an art, he said, and the relationship between the two parties is much closer than the public’s perception.
“The closeness between Israelis and Palestinians is probably beyond your imagination,” he said. “We are neighbors. We know each other. We know each other too well, perhaps. I don’t think the peoples know each other very well, but we negotiators know each other very well.”
Currently, Israeli security is most at threat from Iran and its proxies, Herzog said. Other than Iran, however, he said that the Abraham Accords (mediated in 2020 by the U.S.) had greatly improved relations between Israel and other Arab nations. Normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia, he said, would be the “holy grail.”
A question-and-answer session followed the discussion, and Herzog and Elbaum touched on the importance of engaging young Jews in the U.S. to be “stakeholders in the Jewish state” and see Israel beyond the prism of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, its government, and religion.
More than 100 community members attended the discussion, and heavy security was provided by both the community and the Israelis to ensure the safety of the ambassador and attendees.
The community discussion came the night before Herzog spoke at the Truman Library Institute for Israel’s 75th anniversary. There, the institute commemorated President Harry Truman’s recognition of the State of Israel only minutes after its establishment.
Herzog’s family has history with President Truman. Herzog’s grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog, was the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from the nation’s creation until his death in 1959. He told Truman that his decision to recognize Israel was why he was born in the first place. Ambassador Herzog’s father and Israel’s sixth president, Chaim Herzog, met with Truman in Independence, Missouri, in the 1950s and repeatedly expressed how impressed he was with the president.
Before his appointment as ambassador, Herzog was the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations. He was appointed as ambassador by former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in 2021. He has also taken part in many peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
