Just as “war is too important to be left to generals,” so is foreign policy too important to be left solely to diplomats. This might not appear to be so amazing an observation were it not that the person making it was formerly one of Israel’s top professional diplomats.
Aaron Jacob had spent 26 years working for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, rising ultimately to the position of deputy permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations.
But last year, he moved from the ranks of professional government representatives to a high post in a non-governmental organization. He is now associate director of governmental and international affairs for the American Jewish Committee.
In that capacity, Jacob came to Milwaukee last week to speak at the local AJC chapter’s tribute dinner in which it presented the AJC’s National Human Relations Award to Edward J. Zore, president and CEO of Northwestern Mutual.
And in his remarks, Jacob made a case for greater involvement of “civil society” in the shaping of a country’s foreign policy. “Today, in a democratic country,” he said,
“popular views often place constraints on the government’s ability to shape its foreign policy. As a result, a linkage exists between the level of public discourse on international affairs and the quality of the foreign policy.”
“A democracy,” he continued, “can conduct a successful foreign policy only when its citizens are informed and knowledgeable. There can be no island of political wisdom surrounded by a sea of ignorance.”
And non-governmental organizations like the AJC “represent the society at large. As such, their role is two-fold: to educate their members and the public at large about issues relating to international affairs; and to play a greater role in shaping international affairs.”
But what if people from the “civil society” feel so alienated from their government’s foreign policy that they take initiatives on their own?
Such appeared to be what happened when a group of Israelis and Palestinians negotiated and, last week, signed the “Geneva Accord” for Middle East peace — and did so to the disapproval of Israel’s elected government and to the ambivalence of the Palestinian Authority.
In an interview before his speech, Jacob told The Chronicle that non-governmental organizations “should realize there are limits” to what they can do, and that it is “the right and the obligation of an elected government” to make and sign peace agreements.
Jacob acknowledged that the Geneva agreement is “part of the political discourse between Israel and the Palestinians.” Moreover, “any attempt to further understanding should be welcomed,” he said.
But the AJC is “careful not to introduce itself into the debate” over peace in the Middle East, Jacob said. The organization, however, “has long supported the peaceful settlement” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “based on President Bush’s vision of two states,” he said.
Jacob and his family came to Israel from Bombay, India, when he was about 8, and he still has memories of how non-Jews there would join the Jewish community as invited guests to celebrate the High Holidays. “That is an indication of how tolerant is Indian society,” he said.
He has spent the majority of his diplomatic career at the United Nations and has twice received Israeli foreign service honors for his work. He said he has known current U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for many years and has “great respect” for him, saying he is a “quintessential diplomat,” even though he also says much with which Jacob doesn’t agree.
When asked why he decided to switch careers, he mentioned that he is married to an American woman, but also that “after so many years” in diplomacy, “I wanted to do something else.”
He chose the AJC because it is a “major Jewish organization,” because of “the way it operates and conducts itself” and because of its “moderate political line in world affairs, including the situation in the Middle East.”
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