“I thought I really knew the American Jews… And then when I arrived here I understood that I knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. Israelis do not understand the language, the mentality of the American Jews,” Consul General Gilad Katz told The Chronicle.
“Unfortunately these very big and important communities don’t talk the same language and therefore the misunderstandings too many times become disputes.”
Katz believes that part of the problem is generally different values, which may be reflected in religious identity. “Israelis don’t understand what it means to be a Reform Jew or a Conservative Jew,” he said, “Israelis have no idea. I had no idea before coming.”
Katz leads the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest United States, which is responsible for Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. He was appointed as Head of Post in August of 2017 and is stationed in Houston.
Helping both communities better understand one another is important to Katz. The Consul General tries to bridge this gap in various ways. Part of that includes visits to the states in his region.
During the Consul General’s time in Kansas last month, he met with elected state officials as well as leaders of the Jewish community. Consul General Gilad Katz enjoyed meeting with the Governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly. Katz looks forward to working with the Governor to further strengthen the relationship between Kansas and Israel.
“Enabling, allowing, recognizing the Jewish diaspora as it is… allowing them to feel connected to Israel, to Jerusalem and of course to the Kotel, is I think not only an interest of ours, but I think it is our duty,” the Consul General said.
This idea is central to his goals as Consul General. He said, “Since we’re talking about Israel as the state of the Jewish people and under that title of ‘Jewish people’ we have all the denominations, that means that all the denominations will have the ability to feel at home.”
Relations between various communities is complicated, but not impossible. The Consul General said that to truly work together, sometimes everyone has to come to a compromise.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
“I see them (the Jewish community) as more than partners. I would even say family, brothers, sisters. Literally brothers and sisters,” the Consul General said. He feels that the best way to reach out to the Jewish community is through the Jewish press and by hosting town hall meetings.
In those meetings, Katz talks about what the consulate does, their priorities and where they stand on various issues. He hopes to have a town hall meeting in Kansas City next time he visits.
Katz says that he wants to hear from the community. If it relates to Israel and it’s on your mind, he wants to hear it. “I’m open-minded to anything,” he said.
When the Consul General speaks with community members he tries his best to clarify issues from his point of view and to share ideas that may interest them. He learns a lot from these town hall meetings in terms of what the community would like the consulate to focus on.
The first thing Katz tries to do when visiting a community is to meet with the leader of the democratic party.
“Israel has its interests; we have our interests. One of our interests is being bi-partisan. But there are things that we have to do eventually. We have to make decisions. We can talk until tomorrow about the importance of bi-partisanship,” he said, “But we cannot always try to make everyone happy by not enabling us to make decisions.”
Katz feels that many people he meets are excited to meet a representative of Israel. “It’s not me, it’s the representative. The title. And it warms my heart because I see that we’re talking about a very Zionist community that wants to engage with the State of Israel. And I always say that I think the biggest problem that we have is the PR. Israelis do not know, they do not understand the mentality of the Jewish diaspora… Some of them are stuck in the eighties where they think that the Jewish diaspora, the Jewish American community is one deep pocket, I am totally against that understanding.”
DON’T DONATE, INVEST
People are often surprised by one of the first points the Consul General makes when he speaks.
“I’ve learned when you donate something you’re not committed to it,” he said, “Whereas when someone invests in Israel, it’s a different game altogether… It makes you much more involved.” His hope is that investments will be worthwhile and make people want to invest more.
By investing Katz doesn’t just mean investing in companies, but includes general active involvement in Israel as investing, such as buying properties, sending kids to learn in Israel and visiting Israel.
He wants to make it clear that he is not criticizing anyone who donates to Israel rather than investing. “The bottom line is very simple. Donations are important. Investments are vital,” the Consul General said.
For Katz, investing is about more than money. “Whoever invests in Israel deep down feels committed, more obligated and connected,” he said. Why is that important? “I think that today the Jewish diaspora, for their interests, should strive to be more connected to Israel because it will eventually strengthen their own communities. The connection is not only for Israel.”
The Consul General feels that when people see others connected to Israel and benefitting from investing in Israel, they follow suit. “Every Jewish aspect in the community eventually will be affected by the involvement of the community in Israel,” he said.
MEANINGFUL MOMENTS
“I want first of all for the Jewish community to feel more connected to Israel, to the consulate. I want the Southwest to invest more in Israel and Israel to invest more in the Southwest,” Katz said. That’s exactly what his two most meaningful moments as Consul General are accomplishing.
Three weeks after Katz began as Consul General in Houston, Hurricane Harvey hit the area. Hundreds of homes in the Jewish community were flooded. So was the JCC, the Federation, three synagogues and the Jewish assisted living facility.
Katz facilitated Israel’s donation of one million dollars to the Houston Jewish community.
This was the first time that the State of Israel had given cash money to a Jewish community in North America. This was the largest amount of money Israel had given to a Jewish community worldwide. “They felt that Israel literally is standing shoulder to shoulder with them. And this is 7,000 miles from the State of Israel,” he said.
This assistance helped the Houston community connect to Israel. “The Jewish community understood that the connection is not only in theory. It’s a real connection,” Katz said.
Another way Katz is making that connection real: working with American Airlines to open a direct flight from DFW to Israel — over a year and a half of work is set to become a reality in September 2020.
“This is the only American carrier that is flying a direct flight from a major city that is not on the coasts. Meaning we have shortened the distance between Israel and Texas,” Katz said.
This is helping him meet one of his main goals, bringing Israelis and Americans closer together — one conversation, one action, one step at a time.
By Meryl Feld
Editor