Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines - part 1

Many of our regular readers, those who do not count themselves within the diplomatic circle here, are happy to “meet” the sitting ambassadors of friendly nations with whom we have diplomatic ties through this column. We have had the pleasure of one-on-one interviews with the ambassadors of Spain, Malaysia, Argentina and the United States to the Philippines in our TV show, Business & Leisure’s special segment, Embassy Row and have introduced them to our readers via this column.

Our most recent guest on the show was His Excellency Menashe Bar-On, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Philippines. We are delighted to introduce here the affable ambassador to our readers.

First, a quick background on this well-travelled diplomat who presented his credentials to President Aquino on Aug. 25, 2011 as the Ambassador Extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to the Philippines. Born in 1947, H.E. Menashe Bar-On holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in the History of the Jewish People from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Master of Arts degree in Human Resource Management from Middlesex University in London. He is married to Esther whom he fondly calls “Eti” and enjoys his three children who were all born in different countries as well as his six grandchildren. Today, all his children and grandchildren remain in Israel, all highly successful in their own fields. The youngest, a dentist, runs her own clinic in Israel; the second one manages one of the biggest telecoms in Israel, and the eldest likewise runs a telecom company as a personal business.

Like many of the diplomats whom we have met, Ambassador Bar-On speaks several languages: Hebrew, Arabic, English, Spanish which he learned in Argentina and Portuguese which he learned in Brazil. He is happy to note that in the Philippines, English is “the language”, so he doesn’t have to struggle with a completely new language and can get by very easily. He spent 12 years of his life in South America (in Rio de Janiero and Argentina). Prior to that, he served in the Embassy of Israel in Nicosia, Athens; before his Philippine posting, he served as consul general in London and as ambassador in Panama. He likewise was instrumental in the re-opening of the consulate general in Sao Paulo, Brazil and became the head of consular affairs bureau at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Like all the young men of Israel where military service is mandatory, the ambassador served in the Israel defense forces from 1966 – 1969. He credits this experience as his early training in facing tough decisions. Yes, he served in the Six-Day War of 1967 and saw many of his close friends die in the fierce war. This experience, he says, had a big impact on his future decisions in his professional life.

The reserved but friendly ambassador says he was a professional football player before he joined the foreign service. Professional sports then was not lucrative like today, and his father made sure he understood that this was not exactly a viable option as a career but, according to H.E. Bar-On, had he been born today, who knows, he may have chosen football as a career. Today, he takes to the gym to keep fit. And no, he doesn’t play golf.

His choice of a college degree in the History of the Jewish People is easy to understand—the Jews as a people are fiercely proud of their heritage and history and are always willing to share this knowledge. It has been 64 years since the Israeli Declaration of Independence (1948), and before this, the whole region was known by other names including Southern Syria, Syria Palestine, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Canaan and Palestine. The Jewish people cannot forget the support that the Philippine government gave them during the turbulent ‘40s. President Manuel L. Quezon granted as much as 10,000 visas to Jews coming here to escape the Holocaust, and President Roxas voted in favor of Israel to divide Palestine, which eventually led to the creation of the State of Israel. In recognition of the support, Israel cancelled the visa requirement for Filipinos visiting Israel, the first country granted such courtesy by Israel. That was interesting to hear.

For a bit of history: the patriarch of Israel, Jacob had 12 sons who lived in Canaan and became the ancestors of Israel. Because of the famine, they were forced to flee to Egypt until Moses who was a great-great grandson of Jacob, four generations later, led them back to Canaan. This we know from history as the “Exodus”.

In the second part of this two-part series, we will touch on our trade and commerce relations, Israel’s economy, and their tourism industry. For this first part, however, some basic information on this tiny but powerful state is in order.

Israel lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean bounded by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Its sovereign territory covers 8, 019 square miles or 20,770 square kilometers of narrow land. However, if you include East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, and other areas under Israel control like parts of the Palestinian West Bank, the total coverage comes out to 27,799 square kilometers or 10,733 sq. miles.

It runs as a democratic republic under a parliamentary system and the head of government, also the head of cabinet is the prime minister who ascends as such if he carries the parliament majority. The 120-member parliament is called the Knesset, and parliamentary elections are held every four years. Many of us do not know that it was only in 2003 that they first drafted the State’s official constitution. Prior to that, they functioned under the Basic Laws of Israel which were strictly enforced even if these laws were not encoded. The head of state is the president of Israel, but his functions and duties are largely ceremonial.

Because of its geographical location and its topography, coastal cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa enjoy a very agreeable Mediterranean climate, while in the mountainous regions they have snowy winters. Jerusalem is said to have at least one snowfall every year.

Learn more about this fascinating country in next week’s column.

Big! Big! sale in Mall of Asia

Retail giant SM will hold its biggest sale of the season at the Mall of Asia. The three-day mall-wide sale will run from Sept. 14-16 when most of their nearly one thousand international and local brands will give hefty discounts of up to 70 percent, so don’t fail to check out SM Mall of Asia’s boutiques: clothing, shoes, accessories and food – get great bargains.

See you there.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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