Every year, during the month of October, Australians living or spending time in Israel, together with representatives of the diplomatic community – especially defense attachés – flock to Beersheba to commemorate the Battle of Beersheba, which was a major victory for the British and Allied forces and in which the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS) played an integral role.
The Commemorative Ceremonies marking the 108th anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba in which the ANZACS distinguished themselves, will be held at the Beersheba Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery on Friday, October 31, at 11.30 a.m. In addition to comments by Australian ambassador Ralph King, athlete and former politician Nova Peris will be the keynote speaker.
As a member of the Australian women’s hockey team – the Hockeyroos, in the 1996 Olympic Games, she was the first Aboriginal to win an Olympic gold medal. Peris later switched sports and became a sprinter who represented Australia at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, the 2000 Olympics, and other international competitions.
Peris was elected to the Australian Senate in 2013 and remained in office till May 2016. More recently, she served as co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement, but resigned because the other co-chair was making “inaccurate and divisive statements“ regarding Israel and Gaza. She has been a vocal supporter of Israel and the Australian Jewish community, and has been noted for speaking out against antisemitism.
“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” is a proverb based on a poem by the iconic Scots poet Robert Burns. Indeed, plans did awry go with regard to several events that were meant to feature US Ambassador Mike Huckabee – and it wasn’t due to the US Government shutdown, which is one of the longest in the nation’s history.
It’s also related to visits to Israel by senior US officials – which this week meant US Vice President JD Vance. As a result, bus routes in Jerusalem were diverted, and people waited in vain at bus stops for buses that never came. Vance stayed at the King David hotel, which has the best security system of all hotels in the capital, as a result of which more than half of King David Street was barricaded and closed to traffic, and the whole street was patrolled by security personnel.
Buses piled up on parallel Keren Hayesod Street, where traffic lights have been removed to make way for light rail construction. Chaos reigned, and delays lasted 15 minutes and longer. Some bus drivers were kind enough to allow passengers to alight from wherever the bus was stuck, but others refused to open the doors until they reached a bus stop, which in some cases was less than 10 meters away.
One of the events that Huckabee was supposed to attend was an evening of appreciation hosted by Robert Elisha, the owner of Huvy’s Gallery, and its curator. The US embassy had informed him that the ambassador would come only if it was a private event, with nothing official. That apparently meant that the only flags on display could be American flags. Israeli flags were to be kept out of sight.
When one invitee complained about the absence of an Israeli flag, saying that Israel was not yet the 51st state of America, the above explanation was given. When it was pointed out that Huckabee was unlikely to come because he had to be with Vance, organizers insisted that Huckabee would come and that he would not come alone.
Of course, in the end, he didn’t come, and his stand-in was Mark Walker, a Trump loyalist and a pastor and former politician, just like Huckabee. He is currently the US ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom.
Huckabee did turn up the following night at the President’s Residence for the Medal of Honor ceremony, in which Israeli-American physician Miriam Adelson was one of the nine recipients. Former US ambassador David Friedman was also there, as were German ambassador Steffan Seibert and Israel’s ambassador to Germany Ron Prossor, who came to honor famous pro-Israel German journalist Mathias Dophner; and Axel Wahnish, the ambassador of Argentina, came to honor Argentine-born Israeli expert on Holocaust and antisemitism Prof. Dina Porat.
For Adelson, who celebrated her 80th birthday on October 10, it was a double honor in more ways than one. Aside from the award almost coinciding with her birthday, she is the only woman in the world to have received the Medal of Freedom from the president of the United States and the Medal of Honor from the president of Israel.
'You don’t deal lightly with evil'
Getting back to Huvy’s, Walker spoke briefly about Trump’s achievements and his own role in combating antisemitism and fighting evil. “You don’t deal lightly with evil,” he declared, adding that the Trump administration is against all forms of antisemitism.
Elisha spoke of Ahuva Elisha (Huvvy), his late mother, an internationally acclaimed artist who, after spending time in Europe, returned to her native Jerusalem, and settled in Mea She’arim, where she painted the spirituality and light of Jerusalem from hillside red anemones to Yemenite brides – and a hassidic wedding, along with many other captivating images. When she finished a painting, she never believed that she had done it alone, said Elisha. She always believed that she had been painting with the help of the Almighty.
Alluding to the landscapes, Elisha said: “This is not just a piece of land – this is the Holy Land.”
He also spoke of the courage of President Trump in bringing back some of the light to Israel and to people everywhere.
Photojournalist Sara Davidovich played a somewhat different role than usual as co-hostess of the event. She knew almost everyone present and kept meeting and greeting people and introducing them to each other.
It was mostly a haredi affair, with very few exceptions. Klezmer style music was provided by a violinist and a trombone player. Seen among the guests were spiritual counselor and mediator Rabbanit Bruria Zvuluni, manager of Chabad institutions; Rabbi Yaakov Haim Gloiberman; international businesswoman and philanthropist Yardena Ovadia, who built an Israeli-run hospital in East Africa; Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, a media commentator and a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem; Sima Zini, the CEO of Beit Frankfurter Center for Senior Citizens, plus many others whose attire – especially the men – indicated that they were from the ultra-Orthodox sectors of society.
Israel's intolerable bureaucracy impedes progress – even in the sphere of diplomacy. The Korean Embassy was one of the pioneers in moving embassies from Tel Aviv to Herzliya. It is not the only embassy in Herzliya, but it was the first to build a huge four-storey complex within easy walking distance of both the industrial and commercial districts. The embassy was officially opened in March 2016 after years of negotiations with the relevant Israeli authorities.
The other embassies that are located in Herzliya moved into existing rental premises. After waiting for more than four years for approval from the Tel Aviv District Planning and Building Committee, the UAE this week received a nod to construct a 15-storey tower in the affluent neighborhood of Herzliya Pituach. The tower will include offices and residential quarters for the ambassador and diplomatic staff, as well as a special security section.
The site, originally intended for public buildings, will be rezoned.
Ambassador Mohammed Al Khaja, together with President Isaac Herzog, in July 2021, opened the first UAE Embassy in Tel Aviv amid great fanfare, only a week after Herzog’s inauguration into office.
The overwhelming majority of ambassadorial residences are located in Herzliya Pituach, and it’s a hassle for ambassadors to travel from Herzliya to Tel Aviv and back in morning and evening rush hour traffic – especially when so much construction is underway and streets are partially closed. It’s even worse if they have to go to Jerusalem.
Those countries that want to establish permanent embassies, instead of paying rent for both the embassy and the residence, may opt to follow the examples set by South Korea and the UAE. This will be a blow for Jerusalem, where hopes have been high for embassies to relocate to the capital. In fact, the massive construction at the entrance to the city might well be the site for Embassy Row, if more embassies move to the capital. So far, the US, Guatemala. Kosovo, Honduras, Paraguay, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea have embassies in Jerusalem, and some other Latin American countries have indicated an intention to eventually move to Jerusalem.
Apropos latin America, Bolivia severed diplomatic relations with Israel in 2019 and took an increasingly pro-Palestinian stance, especially in relation to the Palestinian death toll in Gaza. This was the first time that Bolivia had distanced itself from Israel since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1950. Economic relations remained intact, and over the past year, efforts by Israel to renew diplomatic ties appear to be bearing fruit. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is scheduled to travel to Bolivia for the inauguration of President Rodrigo Paz, the first right-wing president after 20 years of Socialist rule.
The three Azrieli sisters, Sharon and Naomi, who live in Canada, and Dana, who lives in Israel, along with Galit Gal, CEO of the Azrieli Foundation’s Hatikva Project, were present at the opening Hatikva Project concert this week. Considering the support that the Azrieli Foundation has given to a variety of cultural, educational, and social welfare projects in Canada and in Israel, it was a given that Lisa Stadelbauer, Canada’s ambassador to Israel, would also be present.
The concert featuring Hanan Yovel and Sivan Talmor, accompanied by the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra and the Young Philharmonic Orchestra, was held at Tel Aviv University’s Smolarz Auditorium. The Azrieli Foundation has a strong link with TAU, having contributed the Azrieli School of Architecture in memory of David Azrieli, the father of the three sisters, who built Israel’s first shopping mall and who also built the first three buildings that comprise the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv.
Believing that music heals the community, Sharon Azrieli, who is a professional opera singer, initiated the Hatikva project to make music more accessible to the wider community and to give hope and bolster resilience while simultaneously commemorating the murdered and the fallen in battle, on the second anniversary of the Hamas massacre. The Hatikvah project encompasses a nation-wide concert series.
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