Ambassador Mitch Fifield on a tour of Israel
A delegation of ambassadors from around the world arrived in Israel for a week-long visit, following the IDF’s Operation Guardian of the Walls against Hamas in May.
Ambassador Mitch Fifield
The delegation of 10 ambassadors to the US and the United Nations landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday at the invitation of Israel’s Ambassador to the US and the United Nations, Gilad Erdan.
The ambassadors include representatives from Australia’s ambassador to United Nations Mitch Fifield and others from Argentina, Bhutan, with whom Israel established diplomatic relations in the past year, Ukraine, Kenya, Guatemala, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Dominican Republic, and Tonga.
The trip is part of Erdan’s information campaign ahead of the start of the 76th UN General Assembly in September when leaders from around the world will visit the UN headquarters in New York.
Erdan stated that “there is nothing stronger than sight. A visit to Israel reveals the truth and leaves a mark on everyone who comes here. I set a goal for myself to bring to Israel as many ambassadors to the US and UN as possible to strengthen our position in the world and prove Israel’s right to defend itself.”
The delegation will tour sites around the country including the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
The delegation will visit the IDF’s Northern and Southern Commands, receive security briefings from senior IDF officials, and tour Hamas and Hezbollah terror tunnels in addition to meeting residents of the communities near the Gaza Strip and in the north.
Meetings with senior government officials are also on the agenda.
Erdan noted that “unfortunately, even in the countries represented on this trip, and of course in the UN, lies are spread against Israel. This was the case during Operation Guardian of the Walls. We will present the truth about Israel to the ambassadors and I am convinced that they will return to their countries and to the UN and Washington with a clearer understanding of Israel’s confrontation with terrorist organizations.”
“We will clarify to them the difference between the terrorists who commit war crimes and the democratic State of Israel that works to defend itself and its citizens,” he added.
This delegation was preceded by an official 11-member bipartisan delegation of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by Congressman Gregory Meeks, that was in Israel earlier this month for meetings with the country’s leadership to “express solidarity with Israel and to learn firsthand about Israeli reality and regional and geopolitical issues in the Middle East.”
The foreign ministers of Hungary, Greece, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the US, and Britain visited the Jewish state during and immediately after Operation of the Guardian of the Walls.
As we have come to expect, New Zealand was again missing in action.