Dear Chief Director of the Middle East department, Ambassador Zanele Makina, Members of Parliament, Representatives of DIRCO, Ambassadors and members of the diplomatic core, Chief Rabbi and Rabbi’s, Jewish Leadership and members of the community, Christian leadership, dear friends,
I would like to thank you all for coming to celebrate with us the 70th year to the miracle called the state of Israel. 70 years have passed from David Ben Gurion’s emotional and historical declaration of the creation of a state in the land of Israel.
We have accomplished so much since. We have built a unique country that holds within a democratic society, full of endless energy, innovation, colors and cultures. We’ve turned the desert in to green fields. And we have absorbed an incredible 3 million Jews from 100 different countries.
The most amazing thing is that we managed all this without a single day of peace and quiet. Sometimes I sit and imagine what we would have reached in improving mankind and the world, if only we had not needed to invest such a big part of our resources in the defense of our borders and citizens. I would have said that “the sky’s the limit”, but even that would be an understatement as Israel reached outer-space a long time ago.
It’s always fun to be nostalgic, especially when there are so many achievements, but that isn’t really “the Israeli thing to do”. The hyperactive Israeli will always focus on the tomorrow. So let’s talk about the future.
The world is going through dramatic changes and Israel is standing in front. Just over a decade ago, eight of the 10 largest companies in the world were banks and energy companies. Unlike the Arab world, Israel never had, and never will have, money reserves or fuel, so the last place in the Middle East you would have invested in would have been Israel.
Today, only 10 years later, we find ourselves in a whole new world. Most of the biggest companies today are from the world of telecommunication: Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple. Today, the number one place all these companies will go to in the Middle East, and perhaps the world – is Israel. All of them, no exception, preferred to come to Israel and open R&D centers rather than draw a few Israeli minds to their companies abroad. Did you know that Israel, the size of Kruger Park, has 365 international R&D centers? I think that we can all agree that the nickname "Startup Nation" suits us well.
And that’s just the beginning. In a world of growing risks in the fields of fintech and cyber security – Israel’s importance as a leader in these areas will only grow. If you add to that the UN’s warnings about the future water scarcity, Israeli abilities and solutions in water management namely
desalinization, recycling, and even producing water out of air, are about to be critical to our shared future. Imagine every village in Africa with Israeli technology making water out of air…
In the field of health, Israel has become a super-power and a world leader in providing solutions and developing medical technologies. Half of the companies in this field are already based in Israel. These Israeli solutions will make medical services cheaper and improve community health care, as technological solutions will replace the need for more infrastructure.
We can continue naming advancements in other sectors, but I did promise myself I wouldn’t speak for more than 5 minutes…
Dear Friends, in recent years, the Middle East around us is bursting in flames as the brief Arab Spring turned to a long winter. But they say it’s always darkest before the dawn. Israel is witnessing new voices emerging in the Middle East. The age of social media is allowing us to directly hear the Arab people beyond their ruling dictators. The voices supporting normalization and mutual recognition are growing louder.
Those of you who aren’t satisfied by sensational headlines, and look a little deeper, probably already know the help we give our neighbors – from the hidden medical assistance to the injured Syrians that arrive at our border, to the humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. We are hopeful that the dawn will reach our neighbors, as Israel craves nothing more than peace with them.
In the last few years Israel dramatically improved its relations with the African continent. The cooperation with most of its countries is reaching all-time highs, as you can see in the exhibition behind you. Israel is assisting with the fight against desertification, connecting villages to water, building agricultural farms and assisting in other fields critical to the future of the continent. The amount of mutual visits of heads of state hit new records. The same is happening with countries in Asia, Latin America and Oceania. Our relations with 4 out of the 5 BRICS countries increased to new levels of cooperation in trade, innovation, employment creation, technological exchange and more.
I’m hopeful that we can do the same with the fifth member, South Africa, as we already have a very good base of cooperation. The trade between Israel and South Africa is strong and stable, reaching almost 1 billion dollars. In the next few months the amount of direct flights between the countries will rise, leading to an increase in mutual tourism. More and more Israelis will be able to experience the spectacular nature and people of south Africa and more south African will visit Israel.
In every one of my visits across the country, from the provinces to the many churches, I hear about the genuine interest in visiting Israel, to experience the holy places and share our expertise in many fields. I always recommend to get on a plane as soon as possible and see the streets of Jerusalem for yourself, walk on the beaches of Tel Aviv, enjoy our green “kibbutzim”, and eat at our world class eateries and markets.
For those who cannot travel just yet, for our 70th celebration, we brought a taste of Israel to you. I wish to take this opportunity to thank our 3 chefs – Yossi Elad, Hemdat Goldberg and Orly Elias for coming to Pretoria and working so hard to bring you a bite of Israel.
Dear friends, my wife Sarit and I would like to thank you personally for joining us today. I hope we will celebrate many more Independence days around the world (and a few more here in South Africa…), but we will always remember our first one as ambassadors, today.
For my finishing words I would like to thank the embassy staff from the bottom of my hearth for the great efforts they put in to prepare this event, and for being our partners in strengthening our relationship with South Africa. Together we will succeed.
Yom Haatzmaut Sameach, Happy independence day!