If there is one particular thing for which President Isaac Herzog is well known, it’s the introduction of members of his family into many of his conversations with both local and foreign dignitaries.
This is what happened on Monday when seven new ambassadors presented credentials.
The last was US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who, like all US ambassadors, received special VIP treatment. The first was Yury Yaroshevich, the ambassador of Belarus, who had never previously been to Israel, and who, since his arrival on February 11, said that he had developed an admiration for the traditions and hospitality of the people of Israel.
Herzog mentioned that his wife’s family originated from Belarus.
Yaroshevich went one better and said that Herzog’s great-grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, had been a student at the famed Volozhin Yeshiva, which last year had been restored and reopened.
It would be an honor to have Herzog visit the place, the ambassador told the president.
Herzog expressed an interest in doing so, which gave Yaroshevich an opening to say that no president of Israel has ever visited Belarus, but a president of Belarus came to Israel in 2000.
Because of frequently changing borders in Eastern Europe, ambassadors of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, and Russia have frequently claimed that the founding fathers of the modern State of Israel were born in their countries. Yaroshevich mentioned presidents Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir.
In addition, he had some good news and announced that Belavia, the national Belarusian airline, will resume direct flights between Belarus and Israel on June 1.
Ambassador Jitender Pal Singh of India
The second ambassador was Jitender Pal Singh of India, who cut a fine figure in his traditional black Nehru suit.
Singh told Herzog that India had been one of Israel’s steady partners and wanted to expand economic connectivity as well as relations on other levels.
Herzog mentioned the ambassador’s great understanding of certain countries in the region, to which Singh replied that it was of paramount importance to achieve dialogue in the region, which he believed would open all kinds of possibilities.
Herzog voiced appreciation to India for standing by Israel on several significant issues, and said, “We have to work together on strategic issues such as getting the hostages back home and achieving peace in the region.”
To Olivio A. Firman, who spent many years representing his own country in different positions at the United Nations, Herzog mentioned his uncle Abba Eban and his father Chaim Herzog, who had each served Israel’s interests at the UN.
He also touched on the possible Jewish blood coursing through the veins of some of the leaders of the Dominican Republic, which was one of the few countries that had taken in Jews fleeing from the Holocaust.
The Dominican Republic was also one of the countries that voted for the partition plan at the UN in November 1947 and officially recognized Israel in 1948. Soon after, it opened an embassy in Jerusalem but transferred to Tel Aviv in 1980.
OF ALL the diplomatic meetings that Herzog had on Monday, the most informal one was with Canadian ambassador Leslie Scanlon, partially because of Scanlon’s own easy-going personality, and partially because Michal Herzog, who rarely attends the presentation of credentials ceremonies, was present and had embraced the ambassador.
Michal Herzog spent part of her growing-up years in Canada, where her father had served as a military attaché.
The president remarked that Scanlon was the fourth consecutive female ambassador of Canada to Israel. Her predecessors were Vivian Bercovici, Deborah Lyons, and Lisa Stadelbauer.
Aside from those of his wife, Herzog has a lot of family connections to Canada, which he mentioned. His late uncle, Yaakov Herzog, had been Israel’s ambassador to Canada and had engaged in a historic debate with historian Arnold J. Toynbee.
His father, as president of Israel, had paid a state visit to Canada, and his late cousin, Shira Herzog, had been a prominent and influential figure in Canada.
Scanlon said that she was delighted to be in Israel even though she had come at a difficult time. She also told Herzog that he was very much appreciated in Canada.
The Philippines had also been represented by several female ambassadors. The current ambassador, Aileen Mendiola-Rau, is a career diplomat who came wearing the traditional, elegant gown of her country.
The Philippines was another country that opened its gates to Jews fleeing from the Nazis, and more recently, foreign workers form the Philippines were among the murdered and the hostages who were victims of Hamas.
The president mentioned that his father visited the Philippines as a general in the Israeli army. Herzog, whose mother was helped by a caregiver from the Philippines, said that he wanted to thank Israel’s “incredible Filipino community.”
Because there is a very large Catholic community in the Philippines, Herzog expressed his sympathy to the ambassador on the passing of Pope Francis.
The final ambassador to present credentials was Nelson Manuel Cosme of Angola, who had the briefest of meetings because preparations were still in progress for Huckabee.
Herzog explained the reason, and Cosme took it in good spirit, as Herzog promised to make it up to him when they met again at the president’s annual Independence Day reception.