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| ISRAELI AMBASSADOR |

“Israel Is Firmly Committed To

Finding A Solution”

His Excellency Ze’ev Boker, Ambassador of the State of Israel, talks to SIGNAL about the
challenges of representing Israel in Ireland and how Israel views its many strategic and
geopolitical challenges.

the Palestinian-Israel conflict. We
have not always encountered a fair
and balanced attitude from Europe,
and in particular, Ireland, but I believe
my job as Ambassador is to narrow
these differences and create greater
understanding on both sides.
I am firmly committed to develop-
ing a positive agenda of activity and
not allowing the bilateral relations be-
tween our two countries to be held
hostage by a vocal minority of anti-Is-
rael political and media figures. As an
Ambassador, all I ask is for fair treat-
ment in the media and in the political
arena. I try to explain Israel’s position
as often I can. However, at times I am
even prevented from doing this. For
H.E. Mr Ze'ev Boker presenting his credentials to Irish President Michael D.Higgins. example at Trinity College earlier this
year, I was unable to address the Society for International
Could you provide us with a brief overview of your dip- Affairs because of a group of protestors who prevented
lomatic career to date and how you have found your people entering the lecture theatre.
time in Ireland so far? The unfortunate truth is that Ireland is often considered
I am a career diplomat, having joined Israel’s Ministry as a “hardship” posting in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
of Foreign Affairs in 1987. I have previously served as Is- This is not because of material difficulty but rather because
rael’s Ambassador to the Slovak Republic and as Deputy of the strong anti-Israel bias, which exists in certain spheres
Head of Mission in Israel’s embassies in Prague and the of Irish society.
Hague. Between 1994 and 1995, I was privileged to serve
as a Deputy Diplomatic Advisor to our late Prime Minister With the Syrian conflict edging slowly toward some sort
Yitzhak Rabin. of resolution, what is Israel’s position on Bashar Al-Assad
I arrived to Ireland to take up my posting as Ambassador seemingly set to continue in power and the scale of the
in late 2015. It is my aim to develop and strengthen the intervention by foreign powers, Russia in particular? How
positive bilateral relations between Israel and Ireland. I see can Syria recover from what it has endured for the past
much scope for the development of closer ties in the fields six years and is there any scope for a change in the rela-
of Culture, Trade, Diaspora Affairs and in other areas. With tionship between Israel and Syria?
this in mind, I try and travel as much as I can around the If we can learn anything from the Syrian conflict, it is that
country. I enjoy meeting with regional leaders and hearing we cannot predict what will happen next. A few years ago, I
about the challenges and opportunities that exist in their do not think anyone would have foreseen that Bashar Al-As-
areas. sad would still be in power. Only time will tell what the reso-
lution will be to the Syrian conflict. We are in regular contact
Ireland has frequently been quite critical of Israeli pol- with our Russian counterparts to discuss the deconfliction
icy in relation to the Palestinian issue. How balanced mechanism set in place to ensure that Israeli and Russian
do you feel the debate is in Ireland and what have you forces do not accidentally clash, while Russian forces are
done to try and influence both the balance and the dis- operating in Syria
cussion? We are however deeply concerned by Iran’s attempts to
At the governmental level, there are certainly differences establish itself in Syria. It is complicit in the Assad regime’s
on some political issues regarding the Middle East, and killing of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and is attempting

62 | | WINTER ‘17 |