It was during Operation Cast Lead in December 2008. The Israeli Embassy in Britain was surrounded by demonstrators, some of whom became violent. They climbed the fence, threw Molotov cocktails and rocks. Tension was running so high that Yuval Diskin, then-head of the Shin Bet security agency, which is in charge of security at Israel's embassies and consulates abroad, recommended closing all diplomatic missions to keep their staffs safe.
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Ron Prosor, who was serving as Israeli Ambassador to Britain at the time, rejected the idea.
"No embassy will close on my watch and under my command," he told Diskin. "As far as I'm concerned, they can take the staff out in APCs," he added. The embassy continued to operate. A few days later, clad in a flak jacket, Prosor took part in a pro-Israel demonstration held by the local Jewish community.
This story, which does not appear in Prosor's new book Undiplomatically Speaking (Yedioth Books, Hebrew, English translation scheduled for 2022) reflects the approach of one of Israel's outstanding diplomats of the past few decades: initiative, offense, standing up for Israel's national honor and battling for the justness of Israel's path on all fronts. It should be required reading for any Israeli who wants to understand what is happening to us in the international arena.
In the book, Prosor sums up 30 years at the heart of diplomatic activity. From the secret contacts he helped build with the Gulf states to dealing with the global media in London and the ceaseless struggle against the UN's hypocrisy and triple standards. The book includes anecdotes, including one time when Prosor noticed an unusually unattractive woman sitting next to him on a flight. On second glance, it turned out that "she" was none other than then-head of the Mossad Meir Dagan.
Prosor sits down with Israel Hayom to discuss the new governments in Israel and the US.
Q: Will you briefly explain the importance of diplomatic activity?
"The security aspect is important, of course, but it's not the whole picture. Diplomatic context and activity integrates other vital interests. For example, when [former] Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said in 2012 that 'the peace treaties with Israel were forced on Egypt,' it was a hint that he wanted to cancel them. It took a lot of hard diplomatic work with the Americans to make him not repeat that statement, and of course, not cancel them.
"Or, for example, the affairs of the deal pushed by the defense establishment to sell Falcon aircraft to China against the recommendations of the diplomatic echelon, which knew how strongly the Americans objected to it. Then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak was forced to cancel the deal and Israel paid a $300 million fine. We lost a few billions that could have gone to our defense industries but gained billions in American aid, and especially the continued alliance with the US, which is a cornerstone of our relations."
Q: Still, the qualities you need in a diplomat today aren't what were taught in the Foreign Ministry training in the 1980s.
"True. A 21st century diplomat isn't a lone actor or his country's sole representative. International relations are no longer just between governments, but rest on civil society. Diplomacy has undergone a change. A good diplomat today needs to seek out every opportunity to take the initiative, locate coalitions that will strengthen his options, and present his stance. A good diplomat is one who takes the initiative and thinks outside the box. Diplomatic war is being waged against Israel that no other country in the world is subject to. Every Israeli diplomatic mission is a frontline command center. These forward positions are often fighting without ammunition."
Q: There has been criticism that former PM Netanyahu hurt relations with the Democratic Party that is now in power in the US. Does the fact that Israel now has a new government, under a right-winger like PM Naftali Bennett, help turn over a new leaf with them?
"Every system, certainly a political one, needs to undergo change from time to time and bring in new people who will espouse a new approach and new possibilities. The new blood now in power here, and the refreshing approach of the government and its leader, are giving them opportunities to tighten the bonds between Jerusalem and Washington and pave a new way forward for the two countries."
In his book, Prosor describes UN Resolution 2334, which defined Israeli control over Judea and Samaria, including east Jerusalem, as violations of international law, as a hit below the belt. Since it was passed, led by former President Obama at the end of his administration, Israel's problems with the Democrats have only worsened.
""We need to take a lot more intensive action when it comes to the Black and Hispanic communities, and the entire progressive public in the US in general," Prosor says. "We need to invest in that. It's a battle. We have something to say and we can and should present our positions. I think that more can be done to stop this wave."
Q: Do you support criticism of Netanyahu and Ron Dermer, who was ambassador to the US while Netanyahu was prime minister, when it comes to losing Democratic support?
"First of all, it must be said that there are many Democrats who support us. True, there are some who don't, but they're still a minority, even if they're a vocal one. The role of a prime minister is to form an intimate relationship with US presidents. Ties like these existed in the past, even when there were disagreements. So I think that better work should have been done with the Democrats, and they [Netanyahu and Dermer] bear some of the responsibility. But as I say in the book, this doesn't detract from Dermer's historic successes as ambassador, first and foremost the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and the Abraham Accords. He is one of the most knowledgeable people about Israel-US relations in the diplomatic service, and he has paid a personal price more than once for his total loyalty to Netanyahu."
Prosor, the son of a diplomat, grew up in the foreign service. In his last diplomatic posting, he served as Israeli ambassador to the UN from 2011-2015. Prior to that, his career took him to Britain, Washington, and Switzerland. He experienced first-hand historic processes and events such as secret meetings with Arab leaders, or the evacuation of the Israeli Embassy in Washington on 9/11.
He was in the room when the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip was implemented. "The idea was for the Palestinians to take charge of their own fate," he says. "Our assumptions did not live up to reality. We were mistaken when we assumed that the Arab states would want to help build Gaza, or when we hoped that the Palestinians would seize the opportunity to develop Gaza. We were wrong when we thought that Palestinians public would appreciate a voluntary withdrawal, from a position of power. For Hamas, the Israeli move was a retreat of weakness that confirmed that they could and should continue their violent ways," he says.
Prosor also had his eyes opened about supposedly enlightened European countries. "We thought that the nations of the world would look favorably on the Israeli step and change to some degree their anti-Israel paradigm. So, we thought it."
His disappointment in western democracies that supposedly embrace liberal values, is the main message of both the book and the interview.
"The international community doesn't have a double standard, it has a triple one. One for most countries in the world that aren't democratic, from which nothing is expected. The second for the democracies. But Israel is held up to a third and special standard. It's a unique demand, one that is so high it can't be met," he says.
Q: For example?
"If rockets are fired at Israel, they say Israel has the right to defend itself. But then they don't really allow you to strike at the terrorists. You do everything with one hand tied behind your back, with a threat hovering overhead that your soldiers and officers will be arrested if they leave the country. Or take Hezbollah's tunnels – a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, but the UNSC is silent.
"Or UNIFIL, who are in Lebanon on behalf of the UN and regularly report Israeli flights in Lebanese airspace. But like the three monkeys, they never notice even a single one of Hezbollah's ceasefire violations. I can give you a long list of things that are just unbelievable, that only Israel is subject to."
When Prosor discusses other standards to which Israel is held, he links them to "western European hypocrisy."
"There are three layers. The first layer is latent, inherent antisemitism. That's part of Europe's DNA. The second layer is the double guilt complex. Some of the system is flagellating itself for what it did to the Jews in the Holocaust and about colonialism. Europe projects these guilty feelings on Israel. The third layer has to do with discrepancies of perception. Like Europe, Israel embraces democratic, pluralistic ideals. But when it comes to the nation state, which Israel supports and the Europeans have reservations about, there is a clash. There is also a clash about the values of individual liberty and national security."
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"When UNESCO votes in favor of a resolution declaring that the Jewish people has no ties to the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem – it's simply inconceivable," Prosor says.
Q: While you were at the UN you refused to accept the situation.
"Right. When I realized what was happening in that arena, my instructions to the mission were clear. We were not going to leave any attack unanswered. The time was over when the Israeli diplomat would note down what was said in the meeting and report it to Jerusalem. I demanded that everyone respond on the spot, and go on the offensive. With wit, with sarcasm, but to make them pay a price – and if possible, do so in the language of a nation attacking us. We had several of Arabic speakers in the mission, and they embarrassed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Syria, as well as other Arab countries, more than once."
Q: When it comes to Arab countries, you argue in the book that there is no peace between Israel and Jordan or Egypt.
"I define our relations with those two countries as a state of non-military fighting. Of course, there are security ties, and they are very important. But what is needed there, which is the basis for our relations with the Gulf countries, is contact between the peoples, interpersonal contact. Tourism, academia, youth exchanges, business – this is all a fabric that needs to be woven over time."
Q: Jordan and Egypt aren't interested.
"A way must be found so it's worth their while. We can't give up."
Q: Why does national honor matter?
"We tend to ascribe patriotic significance to that concept, but national honor has both domestic and foreign significance. When you apologize for a just act, like stopping the Marmara flotilla for example, what message does that send to the soldiers and commanders who fought there? In international terms, what people remember is 'Israel apologized.'"
Q: Obama demanded the apology.
"In hindsight, I think that Israel shouldn't have apologized."
