Gideon Sa’ar, recently appointed foreign minister, entered into his post in a ministerial exchange and inauguration ceremony at the ministry in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Addressing ministry staff, Sa’ar said they must always represent Israel with pride: “Pride for what the Jewish people have given humanity for 4,000 years; pride in the steadfast and heroic stand of the State of Israel … at the forefront of the struggle against radical Islam, against barbarism, against evil.”
He recently returned from a lightning visit to the Netherlands following the mass attack on Israeli soccer fans, who were set upon by Muslims while visiting Amsterdam to attend a Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer game.
Sa’ar, 57, described the government’s rescue operation to bring the Israeli citizens home safely and his decision to fly to the Netherlands to make sure the Dutch authorities were handling the “severe pogrom” appropriately.
He said he saw a direct line between the mob’s actions and the politicized legal proceedings against Israel by the international courts at The Hague, whose purpose is to deny Israel the right to self-defense.
“Delegitimizing Israel translates into dehumanizing every Israeli, every Jew,” the minister said. Scenes of rioters demanding passports and then attacking those who were Israeli are “scenes reminiscent of the kind we thought we would never see again.
“Antisemitism is today growing stronger across Europe and beyond. The old antisemitism targeted Jews, while the new antisemitism targets the Jewish state, making every Jew a target,” he said.
The newly minted foreign minister spoke of the importance of winning the information war, describing the current war as one for “consciousness,” meaning for hearts and minds. It’s a war being waged in media and on social networks, Sa’ar said, “and we are at a disadvantage here to put it mildly.
“It’s no secret that Israeli advocacy and awareness warfare has not received the resources and tools required for this campaign for decades, and I am determined to change that,” he said to applause from attending staff.
In his agreement to become foreign minister, Sa’ar said he demanded a significant budget increase of more than 500 million shekels (~$130 million) dedicated specifically to Israeli advocacy worldwide.
Sa’ar spoke of Israel’s desire to “expand the circle of peace” begun by the historic Abraham Accords. “I hope we will succeed in this regard with Saudi Arabia and other countries. We have not given up on this.”
He emphasized the importance of other minorities in the region, especially the Kurds, “one of the largest stateless nations,” whom he described as “our natural allies.
“They suffer from oppression and aggression from Iran and Turkey. We must reach out to them and strengthen our ties. There are both diplomatic and security dimensions to this. I am also closely following the Druze minority in neighboring countries,” he added.
In a nod to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory, Sa’ar said, “We are going to make the Ministry of Foreign Affairs great again.”
Sa’ar replaces outgoing Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who has taken over from Yoav Gallant as head of the Defense Ministry.
