Ambassador of Israel Addresses Students

His Excellency Mr. Yuval Rotem, Ambassador of Israel

His Excellency Mr. Yuval Rotem, Ambassador of Israel kindly agreed to address students at Carnegie Mellon University Adelaide in a Q&A forum during his visit to Adelaide, on Tuesday, 1 July 2008.  He assumed the position of Ambassador for Israel in Australia in August 2007. Under this post, His Excellency is the resident Ambassador for Australia, as well as the non-resident Ambassador for New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.  Previously, for a period of five years, His Excellency was the Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles. In this role, he was the senior representative of the State of Israel in the western United States.  Joining the diplomatic corps of Israel in 1985, he was first selected for an overseas posting in 1989, when he served as Chief Spokesman for Israel's Permanent Mission to the United Nations as well as for the Consulate-General of Israel in New York.  In 1995, His Excellency was chosen by the then Foreign Minister Ehud Barak to be his Senior Policy Advisor for the Peace Process.  Following Israel's national elections in 1996, His Excellency was appointed to the position of Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister, serving in that capacity under Foreign Minister David Levy and then under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had later come to assume the Foreign Affairs portfolio. In 1999, His Excellency was reappointed for a second term as Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister, and in September 2003, he was promoted to the rank of Ambassador by then Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thus making him the youngest Israeli career diplomat.

During the Q&A session, His Excellency contemplated the challenges that Israel would face if it was free of conflict.  He said that one of the major areas would be the focus on developing its economic growth.  For example countries in the region that had been involved in negating each other would be able to reallocate the money spent on fighting wars to providing education, health and social services to its people.

He was asked to address the issue of the diplomatic relationship which exists between China and Israel.  His Excellency stated that this was a new and exciting partnership which commenced in 1991.  In that time the two countries have enjoyed a growing diplomatic relationship enabling Israel to share its agricultural knowledge with China.  A main example of this is the dairy industry, which has almost become of symbol of goodwill between the two countries.  He expressed his disappointment about China’s official stance towards Iran, which he said was the main area of difference between the two countries.

In response to a question about Israel’s relationship with other countries in the region he highlighted the problems encountered by Turkey which had its human rights record undermined by the film Midnight Express, and the reluctance of European countries to welcome it into the European Community.  He pointed to the disparity between the way in which Turkey had been treated and asked why countries such as Yemen and Tunisia had not been held accountable for their human rights abuses, to the same extent.  He said that his vision of Israel was a country which would bring a version of Islam to the rest of the world which would be accepted and supported.

He was asked about his opinion of the Iraq War, which he said forming a response to was very challenging and difficult.  He posed the rhetorical question about how anyone could tolerate a regime that uses nuclear weapons against its own people.  He cautioned that any policy or decisions made about the future of Iraq would need to be considered carefully as their impact would be felt by surrounding countries.  He said that there was not one root cause of the conflict, and that many issues contributed, such as internal conflict and instability within the nation states, especially in relation to the many competing forms of Islam.  Even the existence of Israel, which many countries disputed, could be considered an underlying factor.  He said that the situation was complex and it was difficult to find a comprehensive solution.

His Excellency was asked his view on what he considered his top diplomatic objectives.  He said that he was keen to enhance the Israeli position in science, economics, technology, culture, sport and water technology, which he said was most topical for South Australians.  He said that technology had changed what it meant to be a diplomat.  To make a valuable contribution, he was now required to make decisions in ‘real time’ and to be pro-active in promoting Israel’s interests and knowledge to the rest of the world.

The session concluded with His Excellency discussing his career options after he had studied Political Science and International Relations at Carnegie Mellon University.  Initially he had considered studying medicine or the law, neither of which appealed to him.  He extolled the benefits of being a diplomat as a career in which ‘real difference’ could be made to the world, and very attractive to people who did not want to consider a career in politics.

To view the convocation speech click here, or for further details on our programs click here for MSIT and here for MSPPM.