Just one month after the end of the Israeli ground operation in Gaza, Gabriela Shalev, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, faced a crowd of about 100 at the Law School Wednesday night. On a campus that has continued to voice its opinions on the Gaza conflict, Shalev responded to tough questions with a mix of guarded circumlocution and emotional candor.
“I am a rare creature,” she told an audience of mostly graduate students from the Law School and the School of International and Public Affairs. Shalev, who was appointed to her post in September 2008, is the first woman to hold the position. But Shalev explained that she is a minority in the Assembly not only because of her gender, but also because of Israel’s global reputation.
“We feel we are the whipping boy of the world,” Shalev said, attempting to capture Israel’s reaction to the international criticism the country often receives. Some other U.N. ambassadors “do not make eye contact with me in the corridors,” she said, adding that her rapport with those “from the Arab countries, people with whom I used to have coffee and eat lunch” have deteriorated in the past month.
Shifting her focus from the U.N. to regional strife, Shalev said, “I still want to remind us all that the main threat to the region, Israel, U.S., and the world is Iran.” She elaborated, adding that Iran endorses the terrorist group Hamas, a fact substantiated by the Islamic republic’s response to the recent conflict in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
In the wake of the Gaza ground operation—which lasted from Dec. 27, 2008, to Jan. 19 of this year—Shalev appeared both personally stunned and professionally challenged during her speech.
Shalev is also confronted by pressing legal issues, given that she is a renowned jurist and a former law professor. She said that Israel’s defense forces are “aware of international legal matters,” and joked that some officials “say, ‘I’m not going into war without a lawyer following me,’” eliciting laughter from the audience.
In response to a question about rebuilding Gaza, Shalev gave a lengthy speech focused mostly on humanitarian aid and the role of Hamas. Hamas is diverting supplies to its people, she said, arguing that Palestinians “are also victims and hostages of Hamas.” But most importantly, she said, she urges a truce between Hamas and Fatah, the Palestinian majority faction that rules in the West Bank.
Though a number of attendees were visibly Jewish or Israeli, many seemed unsatisfied with Shalev’s speaking style which was, by virtue of her post, often indirect and overly restrained. While she addressed hard-hitting issues like the January 9th ceasefire U.N. resolution with which Israel did not immediately comply, she circumvented others with anecdotes about her exchanges at the U.N.
A 68-year-old Israel native born of German parents when the country was British-controlled Palestine, Shalev shed light on the decreased credibility of the U.N.
“People in Israel are becoming pessimistic about engaging and reaching out,” she said.
The event was organized by LionPAC, the nonpartisan Israel advocacy student group, and the Jewish Law Students Association. “We were very excited she was able to come,” JLSA co-president and Law School student Allison Khaskelis said. “She’s very insightful and important.”
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