Israelis honour Winnipeg envoy

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This article was published 20/07/2010 (5668 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TEL AVIV — Israel has given its consent for the appointment of Paul Hunt as the future Canadian ambassador to Israel.

A senior Israeli foreign ministry official told the Free Press Hunt, currently the ambassador to Brazil, will replace the Winnipeg-born Ambassador Jon Allen, who is completing four years of service in Israel.

In a farewell luncheon last Thursday in Jerusalem, hosted by the Israeli foreign ministry and attended by several ambassadors from the British Commonwealth, Allen was praised as an “extremely active and effective ambassador.” Israeli Gen. Baruch Bina said “Allen contributed immensely to the friendly relations between Canada and Israel.”

In Canada’s diplomatic history, Winnipeg has contributed to the diplomatic service two very competent ambassadors: Allan Gottlieb in Washington and Jon Allen in Tel Aviv. Allen, a lawyer, preferred diplomacy over a legal career. He came to Israel in September 2006, after serving as deputy chief of mission in Washington. He came to Israel at the end of the Second Lebanon War and presented his credentials to then-president Moshe Katsav the day the former president was indicted on charges of sexual abuse.

Allen’s mission in Tel Aviv was facilitated by the extremely friendly attitude toward Israel by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Allen refused to be interviewed for this article. He said it’s contrary to the foreign service rules. But senior Israeli foreign ministry officials said “the combination of a friendly prime minister and an able ambassador made Allen’s tenure one of the most successful periods in Canadian-Israeli relations.”

Indeed, during Allen’s four-year tenure, there were 12 Canadian ministerial visits to Israel, three of them foreign ministers. While Harper did not visit Israel as prime minister, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Ottawa last month and had a very fruitful discussion with Harper.

In co-operation with Gen. Amos Gilad, the diplomatic and security adviser of Defence Minister Ehud Barak, Allen launched several rounds of “strategic dialogue” between the two countries. There is also a fruitful academic exchange and Israel is sharing with Canadian universities its expertise in how to commercialize research, especially in the fields of high-tech and communications. Because of these mutual endeavours, there is now more Canadian awareness of Israel’s importance as a “startup nation.” Until a few years ago, only the U.S. and Europe were aware of this Israeli potential. Now, more Canadian corporations are enhancing their co-operation with Israeli startups.

The economic ties between Canada and Israel during Allen’s tenure did not expand as was hoped for. During a short period, there was a surge in economic exchange. This was halted due to the world economic crisis and the commercial balance stands now around $2 billion, both ways. Israeli builders have increased recently their building partnerships, especially in Toronto and Montreal. An important Ontario commercial delegation, headed by the province’s premier, visited Israel last month and explored ways for expanding economic relations with Israel in several fields, especially high-tech. The Canadian giant Bombardier has contracted Israeli Railways to supply double-decker wagons and is bidding for the construction of light-train systems in several Israeli cities.

The Winnipeg-born Avie Aronson is one of Israel’s biggest entrepreneurs and, along with others, he built the new and modern Ben-Gurion airport, while David Azrieli from Montreal was the first to introduce a chain of supermarkets in Israel. Finally, a Canadian construction company that was associated in building the only transnational toll-way in Israel, Highway No. 6, sold this week its share in the consortium in return for a cash profit of $30 million.

One cannot sum up Jon Allen’s ambassadorship without dwelling briefly on his, and his Winnipeg spouse, Clara Hirsch’s, cultural and social activities. They both cultivated extremely good relations with the Canadian Jewish community in Israel. They opened their residence to numerous charitable functions and cultural events and they both brought respect for Canada and the Canadian Jewish community, especially the Winnipeg community.

Samuel Segev is the Free Press Middle East correspondent.