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→ 18 February 2021
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Biden speaks with Netanyahu after delay raised questions | CNN

Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone with US President, Joe Biden

President Joe Biden spoke Wednesday with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, ending what had been a lengthy stretch without a call after Biden took office.

The period without communication had raised questions about what was behind the delay, though the White House insisted the two men had a strong relationship and that Biden was simply calling leaders in other regions before arriving at the Middle East.”

It was a good conversation,” Biden told reporters in the Oval Office shortly after the call ended, without elaborating.

In a post on Twitter, Netanyahu said he had spoken with Biden for roughly an hour in “friendly and warm” terms, affirming the US-Israel alliance and discussing issues related to Iran, regional diplomacy and the coronavirus pandemic.

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→ 23 November 2020
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Full Text: Ambassador’s Farewell Address Nov 12

H.E. Ambassador of Israel to New Zealand, Dr Yitzhak Gerberg

NZFOI: As many of our members and supporters were unable to attend the farewell gathering in Christchurch, here is the full text of the Ambassador’s address on November 12.

BEGINS

Dear Friends of Israel

Kia Ora and Shalom,

The highlight of the past few weeks was the peace agreement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain. This historic agreements named “Abraham Accord” represents a meaningful landmark and historic breakthrough combining forces and finding common ground in the Middle East has never been more urgent than now especially in the midst of a global pandemic.

The Abraham Accord is set to generate immediate results and is essential in order to create normalization as well as real peace and security in our chaotic region.

In fact this is a historic diplomatic breakthrough that will advance large scale collaboration while unlocking a great economic potential. For instance the Health Ministers of Israel and the UAE have already agreed to cooperate on healthcare issues, particularly covid19 and set up businesses and student exchange programs.

Emirati investment firms and Israeli Hi-tech companies already signed agreements on collaborations and joint research and development; together we all will gain from the expansion of trade and commercial ties in fields such as cyber security, clean energy, medicine, finance, communications, and agriculture.

I hope that the Abraham Accord will pave the way for more countries in the region to realize the vast potential that exists in peace. Unfortunately, the Palestinian do not support the Abraham Accord despite the fact that this could be a big opportunity for them and they continue refusing to recognize the state of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.

Additional key concern of the UAE and Bahrain, other Sunni countries and Israel is the common threat of Iran. Iran is a rogue country with nuclear ambition as well as hegemonic regional goal and therefore Israeli missile defence systems and Israeli cyber security are of interest to the Arab Sunni Gulf countries.

Make no mistakes Iran wants to wipe out the state of Israel and is deeply meddling in Lebanon Syria and Iraq with their proxy terror organizations. Israel is acting in self-defense and in compliance with international law against internationally recognized terror organizations.

Iran has lately exceeded the limits of 300 kg. enriched uranium, builds up advanced centrifuges, and is developing medium and long-range missiles that can strike Israel as well as other Arab Gulf states. Iran also continues to support the terrorist organizations of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza strip and lately ammunition nitrate that was stored by Hezbollah in Beirut caused two giant explosions killing hundreds of people.

The U.S. made a decision to enforce all previously ended sanctions on Iran (which is called snap-back sanctions). Israel supports those sanctions because we see it as a necessary tool against Iranian nuclear capability, aggression towards Israel as well as a threat they impose against peace in the Middle East, not to mention the human rights abuses that are regularly conducted in Iran.

Last year we saw further growth in anti-Semitism, anti-Israeli sentiment and de-legitimation of the State of Israel, which are all derived from antisemitism that was transformed into Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

Together we must fight antisemitism, racism, xenophobia and BDS against Israel.

On a more positive note I’m glad that the Arab Gulf countries have understood that Israel is not the problem in the Middle East but rather a prominent solution to the regional problems and we do expect other Arab countries like Oman, Kuwait, Morocco and Saudi Arabia to follow.
The challenges we – as well as the entire world – are facing today know no boundaries and it is essential that we combine our capabilities.

We call on all counties to voice their support for the “Abraham Accord”. Although New Zealand has not yet officially supported the “Abraham Accord”, has repeatedly failed to condemn terrorism against Israel and has not designated the military wings of Hezbollah and Hamas as a terrorist entities we certainly expect them to do so, not to mention the fact that the government has continued the pattern of imbalanced approach towards Israel in its voting record at the UN as it was demonstrated by New Zealand sponsorship of the anti-Israeli resolution 2334 and when N.Z. failed to take the opportunity to ensure that Hamas terrorism would be condemned at the UN.

On the other hand, there was a very positive development in our bilateral relationship when an agreement on technology and innovation was signed between New Zealand and Israel.

Israel and New Zealand enjoy friendly relations, these relations are based on common democratic values, friendship between people to people, the history of ANZAC in Israel during the first world war as well as mutual interests led by the idea that we need to transform our challenges into opportunities.

As you know, Israel is a hub of Hi-Tech and innovation with over one thousand one hundred and fifty start-ups based on artificial intelligence. I anticipate the collaboration between New Zealand and Israel in the fields of High-Tech, cyber security, advanced and precise agriculture, clean and renewed energy as well as adaptation to climate change, usage of drip irrigation, restoration of biodiversity, green houses with mitigation of gas emission, plant species with resistance to diseases, land rehabilitation, water management, reduction of water loss, food alternatives, storage and saving of agricultural products.

So the sky is the limit. I believe that this is the time that NZ opens an embassy in Israel and for that, we need your support.

I would like to use this opportunity and thank each and every one of you for your support, true friendship and concern towards Israel, that helps us fulfill the prophecy of prophet Ezekiel (chapter 36 verse 24) ” For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your home land”.

Last but not least – soon I will be leaving NZ back home to the holy land and I would like to thank you all for the friendship you have showed me and my wife. We had a great time in New Zealand, mainly because of your friendship.

Toda Raba, Tena koutou-Katoa and Kia Kaha,

God bless New Zealand,

God bless Israel and

God bless you all.

ENDS

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→ 1 October 2020
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When it comes to Israel it doesn’t matter that much which major party forms the government | NZFOI

In many minds, Anti-Semitism has disguised itself as advocacy for Palestinian Arabs and opposition to Israel’s existence.  Unsurprisingly therefore, NZFOI is keenly interested in NZ’s policies toward Israel in its fight against Anti-Semitism.  Those following the many articles setting out the policies, the statements and the track records of the various NZ political parties in relation to Israel, will have noticed something: 

Over the last few years, no matter what they have said prior to entering government all have become subordinated to the “long-standing” and “even-handed” foreign policy set out by previous administrations and closely guarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Each administration has parroted these two catch-phrases, “long-standing” and “even-handed” policy (or their synonyms) over and over whenever the Middle East Conflict has arisen.   

These two phrases or variations of them are being recited by each administration because this is the advice given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).  We know this because of the good work of the Israel Institute of New Zealand who obtained the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s advice on NZ’s UN voting between 2015-2018 through the Official Information Act.  In those documents, the Ministry says: 

“New Zealand has for many years endeavoured to take a balanced and even-handed approach to Middle East issues in the UN, with the primary objective of supporting a sustainable two-state solution, best achieved through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.”

In defending Resolution 2334, Bill English said it “expressed long-standing international policy.”

Based on his 2017 pre-election statements, Winston Peters looked like an opportunity to reset NZ’s relations with Israel in the aftermath of NZ’s unwise sponsorship of Resolution 2334.  Yet in 2020, he too repeated that NZ’s policy was a “consistent” one and it was “balanced” when questioned as to why his government supported anti-semitic bias at the UN.

During a casual conversation with Gerard van Bohemen, a previous NZ Representative to the UN and now High Court judge, he too re-affirmed that NZ’s stance on the Middle East was “long-standing” and “even-handed.”  It’s been crafted over many decades and transcends individual administrations.  He then said, we shouldn’t have a go at the Ministry as they are just a civil service, there to implement the policies of the current administration.  NZFOI needed to get to the academic experts who helped shape the policy in the first place.

It’s almost as if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has frightened each incoming administration with disastrous consequences if it dared to touch the “long-standing” and “even-handed” policy which embodies the collective wisdom of previous governments, that in their eyes, has performed so well in protecting New Zealand’s interests.

Without focusing on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the “experts” it uses to form its views on international issues, NZ’s interests, and therefore how it advises each incoming administration, NZ’s stance on the Middle East Conflict will not be diverted from its current course. 

Because of this, when it comes to Israel it doesn’t matter that much which major party forms the government.

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→ 4 September 2020
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Saudi breaks 72-year taboo with green light to Israeli flights | Stuff

El Al now free to fly through Saudi Arabian airspace

Israeli airlines will be allowed to cross through Saudi Arabia on a regular basis, shattering a 72-year taboo as Gulf Arab nations and the Jewish state draw steadily closer together.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia approved a United Arab Emirates request to use the kingdom’s airspace “for all flights coming to the United Arab Emirates and leaving to all countries,” a consequential, if oblique outreach to Israel.

The short statement by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, citing an unidentified official at the aviation authority, was quickly followed by a tweet from the foreign minister.

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→ 20 August 2020
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US will not consent to West Bank annexation ‘for some time,’ Jared Kushner says | JTA

Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor to the President

Israel will not move forward with its West Bank annexation plan without U.S. approval — and that consent won’t come for some time.

That’s what Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, told reporters from Middle East media outlets on Monday. Kushner said the Trump administration had gained Israel’s trust by moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and thus Israel will honor its commitment not to advance its idea to annex parts of the West Bank.

“That land is land that right now that Israel, quite frankly, controls,” Kushner said. “Israelis that live there aren’t going anywhere. There shouldn’t be any urgency to applying Israeli law.”

Kushner said the focus now has to be on implementing the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that was announced on Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to suspend annexation as part of the deal.

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→ 17 February 2020
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Egypt builds a wall on border with Gaza | Al-Monitor

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Maj. Gen. Ahmed Abdel Khalek, the Egyptian intelligence officer in charge of Cairo’s Palestinian portfolio, arrived in the Gaza Strip Feb. 10 as head of an Egyptian security delegation that made a field trip along the Egyptian-Gazan border as part of the new Egyptian preparations to boost border security and prevent extremists from entering the Sinai Peninsula from the Gaza Strip. The delegation also met with Hamas’ leadership in the Gaza Strip. 

Speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, tribal sources in the northern Sinai Peninsula stated that on Jan. 27 Egyptian armed forces embarked on the first phase of building a 2-kilometer-long barrier on the border with the Gaza Strip, starting from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the Rafah border crossing. Such a step went unannounced by the Egyptian armed forces, the sources added. 

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/02/egypt-builds-new-barrier-to-boost-border-security-gaza-strip.html#ixzz6EAF8DxYI

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→ 15 February 2020
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Truly Beautiful

Wharariki Beach

Two years ago, I was standing at sunset overlooking Wharariki Beach, appreciating one of the most picturesque scenes that I have ever seen, if not the most, when a man approached me. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he said. “Incredible,” I replied. I asked him where he was from and he said he was from a suburb of London. He had come to this part of the world with his wife for their anniversary, to see what he described as “heaven on earth” with his own eyes. He asked me where I was from, and when I replied Israel, his wife, who was standing next to him went, “Ohhh.” I asked her what she meant.

She said she had a friend, when they lived in Portugal, an Israeli, who used to talk about Israel all the time when they used to have dinner together. She told me about how he used to go on and on about his army experiences, the wars he fought in, and the smell of the Machaneh Yehuda market in Jerusalem. When she finished, her husband said, “We visited there once; a beautiful country you have.” “Yes, it is,” I responded, “but it’s different.” He asked why, and in that split second, I then understood why at moments like these, while appreciating God’s breathtaking creations, I had missed home more in the few days I had been on summer break in New Zealand than all the time I had been working on shlichut in Australia so far.

“It’s different because in Israel everything has meaning behind it. Sure, God created the entire world, the incredible beach here, the beautiful fjords in the south, and the amazing sunset we’re looking at right now. But in Israel, there’s something behind each view that’s much deeper.” He asked me to specify what I was talking about.

So I told him about where I live, and the view I have from my front porch. The biblical significance of my community, and the fact I used to live on a street named for the spring underneath it, that used to run all the way to the Temple in Jerusalem. I told him about the prophecies of Ezekiel that are coming to pass in my backyard, and the most mentioned prophecy in the entire Old Testament, which I experienced first-hand, live, four and a half years ago while getting off a plane and kissing the asphalt. I told him that I learned for two and a half years in a place where there’s a town square emblazoned with a 2,000-year-old prophecy from Zecharia, of old men and women returning to sit and children returning to play in that very spot, and how the local schools make sure that they time their recesses so that the square will never be empty of playing children.

I explained to him how when I prayed there, I prayed overlooking the place where the Temple once stood and will soon again stand, just needing to look up from my prayer book through the window to envision what I was praying for. I tried to convey to him how when my cousin in Israel finished a portion of the Bible relating to the story of our forefathers, he celebrated with his classmates in the very tomb of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He was astounded by my response, and when saying farewell, commented to his wife “we must visit there again.”

When I returned from vacation back to Melbourne to start another year of trying to inspire all sorts of Jews from all different backgrounds to connect to Judaism and their homeland, many people in the community and friends asked me how my experience there was.

As I said to one of my friends who sarcastically joked based on my photos about me moving to New Zealand instead of coming back to Israel in August: There are two kinds of beauty in this world. Inner beauty and outer beauty, or in Hebrew יופי פנימי and יופי חיצוני. Many times over the trip I came to a viewpoint and saw something so incredibly beautiful that it caused me to just throw up my hands in the air and say “מה רבו מעשיך ה”, but even at those times I felt that something was missing when feeling the longing I had for Israel. Because the awe-inspiring forms of nature that I witnessed there may very well be some of the most beautiful scenes I will ever see, but the word “beautiful” here is only referring to the outer beauty, the יופי חיצוני. True beauty is composed of both inner and outer beauty. In other words, external beauty and meaning.

That doesn’t mean that I won’t travel to see the wonders of God, and try to witness landscapes that will increase my awe of heaven—spectacles so impressive that they will inspire me to spontaneously pray to God. But everything in life is perspective.

I may never see a more beautiful landscape of waterfalls running down the side of a mountain as I saw at the Rob Roy Glacier in Wanaka, but the mountain itself is empty. It’s a creation of God just like anything else in the world, but its holiness is limited.

And most of all, it isn’t mine. It wasn’t promised to my nation and myself by God.

It’s beautiful. But it isn’t truly beautiful.

Doni Cohen, 24, made aliyah from Bergenfield, NJ, to Efrat in July 2013. He did hesder in Yeshivat HaKotel, serving in Tzahal as a commander in the Military Rabbinate, did a year of shlichut through “Torah MiTzion” in Melbourne, Australia. He’s currently studying political science, Jewish history and contemporary Jewry in Hebrew University on Mount Scopus while working on various non-profit projects. He has written for and his aliyah story has been featured in various tri-state-area papers and he can be contacted at arbel67@gmail.com.

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→ 22 November 2019
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NZFOI welcomes US announcement on Israeli Settlements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

22 November 2019 CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND — NZ Friends of Israel welcomes the US announcement on Monday November 18, that acknowledges that Israel’s settlements in Judea and Samaria (also known as the West Bank) are not illegal.

Most international law opinions that suggest otherwise are based on a misapplication of the Fourth Geneva Convention which was never written with the Middle Eastern situation in mind.  The original convention expected that the land of a sovereign state was being occupied by another sovereign state. 

This is not the case with the lands of the Middle East.  Following the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the end of the Second World War, there was no legitimate sovereign over the disputed lands. 

The US announcement affirms the fact that Jews have always been indigenous to the region and are not foreign colonizers. 

With the resurgence of anti-Semitism in many countries of the world, the foresight and wisdom of the League of Nations in mandating the establishment of a Jewish homeland, is unfortunately being vindicated. 

NZ Friends of Israel (www.nzfoi.org, contact@nzfoi.org, ph 027 433 9745) is a registered charity that fights racial prejudice and intolerance by raising awareness of Jewish history and culture.

ENDS

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→ 14 November 2019
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The Myth of the Thirsty Palestinian | The Tower

The latest line of anti-Israel attack claims the Jewish state withholds water from the Palestinians. As usual, the haters have their facts wrong.

The issue of water rights in the West Bank is constantly raised in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, appearing again and again in public discourse around the world. According to critics of Israel, the Jewish state selfishly exploits the area’s water supplies and denies access to the local population. In doing so, the critics say, Israel is not only abandoning its responsibilities to the West Bank Palestinians, but ruthlessly and illegally abusing the natural resources of the occupied territory. This idea has become extremely widespread in the international media, and was recently voiced from the Knesset plenum by the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, causing a minor scandal in Israel and abroad.

As with all attacks on Israel, the truth is much more complicated and, to a great extent, precisely the opposite of what the critics claim. When one examines the relevant data, it becomes clear that, under Israeli rule, the Palestinian water supply has become larger, more technologically sophisticated, of higher quality, and much easier to access; almost entirely due to Israeli efforts.

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→ 14 February 2019
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Benny Morris on Why He’s Written His Last Word on the Israel-Arab Conflict | Haaretz

Benny Morris

After 30 years, he’s giving up. “This is the last book I will write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” declares historian Benny Morris, sitting on the balcony of his home, overlooking distant lush hilltops covered with cypresses and pines. A pioneer in researching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and one of the most prominent Israeli historians of his generation, he has had his fill of the exhausting and bloody cycle that he has documented for the past three decades. “The decades of studying the conflict, which led to nine books, left me with a feeling of deep despair. I’ve done all I can,” he says. “I’ve written enough about a conflict that has no solution, mainly due to the Palestinians’ consistent rejection of a solution of two states for two peoples.”

This weary feeling about the bitter encounter between the two sparring peoples is given profound expression in the new Hebrew edition of his book, “One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict” (first published in English in 2009). In the book, Morris describes for what he says is the last time another chapter in the history of relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Given the circumstances, he concludes his research with an incisive political essay that could be read as an indictment. “It’s a historical essay that has a political purpose and a political explanation,” he admits. “My aim is to open readers’ eyes to the truth. The objective is to expose the goals of the Palestinian national movement to extinguish the Jewish national project and to inherit all of Palestine for the Arabs and Islam.”

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