I dwelled upon these questions afterward as I commemorated Dr. King’s legacy, together with the greater Boston community and leadership, at Temple Israel’s special Shabbat service in Brookline and later, a memorial breakfast at the Convention Center.

 

In a 1968 speech, Dr. King said, “Israel is one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy.” It is our greatest hope that we are deserving of the lofty titles that Dr. King bestowed upon us in that address to the Rabbinical Assembly. We hope to become so, through our acceptance of people of all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, like many other western societies – unfortunately, not all do. Israel is in a good place; we can say with the utmost credibility that we have been successfully integrating people of various ethnicities from the get-go: The first wave of Yemenite Jews to arrive in the Land of Israel, from 1881-1914, coincided with the early immigrant waves from Eastern Europe. Many of our country’s earliest pioneers were men and women of color; today, at least 60% of Israelis can be considered as such.

 

I myself come from a background of mixed heritage - my father immigrated to the US from India in the 1950s. I married a woman of Iraqi origin, and our children now have an even more diverse cultural makeup than their parents. None of us have ever sensed discrimination in Israel based on color (my two daughters currently attend Tel Aviv University and the Technion, respectively, after serving in special IDF units).

 

Could it be that my diplomatic position has put me out of touch with the realities of Israeli society? No chance: even our civil service employs Israelis from a myriad of cultures, including our first Ethiopian Ambassador to Addis Ababa, and the many Arabs and Druze co-workers, whom I consider friends. Actually, it’s enough to walk the streets of Israel - which I’ve been doing for 30 years now - to understand that being “a person of color” is practically the norm.

 

This is reflected regularly in the Israeli media, from stories on politics to human interest. Israel’s Channel 2 recently broadcast an inspiring piece about Mehereta Baruch-Ron, deputy mayor of Tel Aviv, who immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia when she was 10 years old.

 

Today, Baruch-Ron cares for the social needs of the city while juggling family life with her husband and their three children, while also finding time recently to publish a children’s book reflecting their diverse family makeup and background. Her personal story is one of both integration and challenge, but at the end of the day, a success story numerous other Israelis can tell as well. I know many of these personally.

 

We live in an imperfect world to be sure, and there is always room for improvement. But Israel has demonstrated time and again that its moral compass is pointed in the right direction in its treatment of people of all nationalities, faiths, and colors. In that sense, and more, we are realizing Dr. King’s vision.