Every morning for the past two and a half years, Israeli Ambassador to Israel Michael Oren has gone rowing in Washington's Potomac River. Rowing in a one-man boat across the river cutting through the U.S. capital relaxes him, he says, allowing him to gather his thoughts ahead of another day pursuing "Israel's vital interests." Oren's personal diary lists personal meetings with President Barack Obama at the White House and conversations with any of 535 members of Congress. Then there are the State Department and Pentagon officials, discussions with the diplomatic corps and meetings with the Jewish community. As the face of Israel in the U.S., Oren doesn't rest for a moment. This week, a bit of drama was added to that crazy schedule when his assistant, respected diplomat Dan Arbel, was suspended after he leaked sensitive material to a journalist. The incident caused embarrassment among Israel's highest representatives in Washington, but Oren adamantly refuses to discuss it. He chooses to start with two situations that he believes highlight the special relationship between Israel and the U.S. "About a year ago when the fire broke out in the Carmel forest, the prime minister called me and described the seriousness of the situation," Oren recalls. "We searched all over to find American fire-fighting planes to send to Israel, but in the end I went in person to the White House, late in the evening, and asked to meet with the president. Obama was in the middle of a party. I approached him and told him that a huge fire was raging in the Carmel and that there was a danger the fire would also hit Haifa. Obama called a senior advisor and ordered: "Whatever Israel wants, get it to Israel right now." "The next morning, representatives of the American firefighters presented us with eight Hercules planes," Oren says. The ambassador is still moved by that. "For me this was an exemplary moment that demonstrated the president's closeness with and commitment to Israel." After that party, the same evening, Obama flew to Afghanistan. A few weeks later in a meeting at the Pentagon, one of the officials told Oren the rest of the story: "The president landed in Kabul and his first question was 'Did the planes leave for Israel-'" Oren recalls another situation with a similar outcome about five weeks ago when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the U.S. president to ask for his help in rescuing the Israeli Embassy team in Cairo, Egypt. Asked if it wasn't a bit much to bother the leader of the Free World every time Israel has a problem, Oren says, "No, definitely not. That's what we have friends for. This is the embodiment of the friendship. How many prime ministers can pick up the phone late on a Friday night, when the president is already on weekend vacation and tell him, 'I need you' and the president gets involved immediately? In our relations with the U.S., we can do that. It has happened in the relationship between Obama and Netanyahu. For me, the accessibility is a huge advantage, in whose framework I have no problem calling the White House at 2 a.m. and getting an answer." Oren, 56, was born in New Jersey. He immigrated to Israel aged 24, enlisted in the paratroopers, and fought in the First Lebanon War. He served as then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's liaison with the U.S. Sixth Fleet during the Gulf War. He was recruited again for Israel's information campaign during the Second Lebanon War and following Operation Cast Lead. In 2009, Netanyahu contacted him and asked him to serve as ambassador to the U.S. Oren agreed even though it meant giving up his American citizenship. In the U.S. he's a well-known figure for his research and the articles he regularly publishes in the U.S. press. He has written two books which became best-sellers "Six Days of War and the Making of the Modern Middle East" which deals with the Six Day War, and "Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present," which discusses American interests in the area over 200 years. He lives in Jerusalem's Arnona neighborhood and is married with three children. Oren's early friendship with Netanyahu led to his appointment to the most important position of trust in the diplomatic circle. In real terms, he is the one who is at the forefront of the most sensitive issues. "One of the most interesting elements of my work is naturally what goes on behind the scenes," Oren admits, and says that the public abroad is exposed to "very little of our reciprocal relations highway." What is the relationship between the U.S. administration and the Netanyahu government- "Strong, sometimes very strong. What makes the headlines in the papers, here and in Israel, doesn't necessarily reflect the entire picture. In security matters, there are very close relations which include exceptional intelligence cooperation. Recently, anti-missile systems like the Arrow, Iron Dome and David's Sling were developed, and other types of coordination took place trying to maintain the IDF's qualitative edge in the region. "When Obama took over, the U.S. government checked and found gaps, compared to previous years, in maintaining that advantage. A commitment was made to reduce those gaps, caused by a variety of reasons, such as Middle East arms sales which changed the balance of power, and technological developments. A decade ago they described a qualitative difference in a way no longer relevant today. Part of Israel's advantage was in the quality of some of its special units or the technology which our adversaries already have now. We sat down and came up with an updated description of what a qualitative edge is today." Oren claims that when it comes to diplomatic matters, "If there are differences they are related to tactics and not the essence of the matter. We don't have serious disagreements. Strategically, we both want the same goals: two states for two peoples. Mutual recognition, direct negotiations without preconditions. "In terms of tactical matters, our positions are closer now to those of the Americans than they were in the past two and a half years." He recalls Obama's speech at the U.N. General Assembly, of which Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said; "I am ready to sign on this speech with both hands." "I am totally behind this speech," Oren says, adding that the speech deeply reflected "understanding for how we Israelis feel." What caused the change? "The administration understood that it was difficult to bring Mahmoud Abbas to the negotiating table and that Netanyahu was very serious about the idea of two states for two peoples. Additionally, it's clear to everyone that the new situation in the Middle East is very fluid and could become very flammable." Is the difference in the U.S. administration's approach related to the November 2012 U.S. elections- "I don't see change stemming from political or domestic considerations. Obama isn't really saying anything different than what he said two years ago. In his speech in Cairo after taking office, when he talked about the Arab nation, he talked about their need to recognize Israel. This was an important historical declaration. He then repeated the same important elements at the U.N. General Assembly, before Rosh Hashana. "I can't say there are never any personality conflicts, however I work with all these people on the American side and I always tell my staff: 'We have no enemies in this administration.'" Oren, who researched the relations between the U.S. and Israel, offers a historian's analysis. "When we examine today's situation from a historical perspective, there's really only one conclusion: We have no problem with the American administration. "In the '50s, President Dwight Eisenhower had a secretary of state named John Foster Dulles, who really didn't like us. Today there's an airport named after him in Washington. But there isn't anyone like him in the administration today. Just the opposite -- we have many friends in Washington." Oren doesn't dismiss the possibility that Obama, who visited Israel before the last U.S. election, will drop in during the coming year, but points out that George W. Bush, who was considered by Israelis as pro-Israel, did not visit during his first term in office. "We are a country that is located in a difficult, dangerous and hard region, and it's important that the man who heads the strongest nation in the world come visit us and he will come. We just have to find the right time for it. "The president knows, like all the decision-makers in Washington, that if we look five or 10 years ahead in the Middle East, it will be a world of changes. There's just one stable democratic, pro-American country able to defend itself on its own in the region. Israel is that country. And it's clear that strategically, there's no replacement for the state of Israel." Oren wonders why the U.S. president isn't seen as a more positive figure in Israel, and assumes that the same "tactical problems" that characterized the relations between Obama and Netanyahu has something to do with it. Is Israeli public opinion unfair to Obama? "There are those in Israel who do not see the whole picture," he says. "Sometimes there are disagreements and that's legitimate. Throughout history, the U.S.'s strongest alliance was with the British in World War II. A look at their relations shows they argued all the time. We don't do that, but we don't agree all the time either. It is a natural situation. The U.S. is a power with a global view. We are a very small country with a regional view." An example of the different approaches Oren refers to are the Israeli and the U.S. positions about abandoning Hosni Mubarak. "I don't think the Americans abandoned Mubarak," Oren says. "You have to understand that just like we have a certain narrative we live by, so do the Americans. According to ours, we can't just stand by when a Jewish community is in danger. The U.S. narrative won't allow it to give up on people fighting for democracy and freedom against an undemocratic government that is also the target of constant demonstrations." During his first meeting with Netanyahu, Obama demonstrated a certain coolness, according to accepted diplomatic codes. Last May, Netanyahu came out against the president in public because of Obama's mention of the '67 borders. Do these clashes impact the relations between the two countries- "I've been at all eight meetings Netanyahu has had with Obama. I didn't notice any tension. They were substantive meetings. At the last one at the U.N. there was definite warmth between them, and at the meeting they had in May, the press said Netanyahu lectured Obama and that's not true. The prime minister spoke about the Palestinians and didn't criticize the Americans. The press didn't report that at the end of the meeting, the two strolled around on the White House lawn for some 20 minutes, and on parting Obama gave Netanyahu half a hug and said: 'Goodbye, my friend.'" The American press describes an overall atmosphere of impatience between the two. "It depends which press you read. The New York Times has its own stance, which hasn't changed in years. There was also criticism of the previous Israeli administrations. I was here during Operation Cast Lead and the Second Lebanon War, and I remember the attitude towards that Israeli government. The U.S. media isn't all of one opinion. The TV commentators support Israel." In recent weeks there's been criticism in the U.S. about Israel's involvement in Congressional affairs. "There is a proper level of involvement, as there should be. I go to Capitol Hill at least twice a week to give briefings and get a sense of what's happening. I devote equal time to the Democrats and the Republicans and attend committee and sub-committee meetings. There are checks and balances between the legislative branch and the administration, and they exist without any connection to Israel. We only have a clear Israeli interest in what's happening, and that's all. Oren is an expert on the Six Day War. His Arnona home in Jerusalem isn't far from the '67 lines. "The Egyptian and Iraqi forces got very close to where my house is," he says. "In the fields east of my home there are memorials for those who fell on the hills of Jerusalem. Nearby is a fenced-off, sign-posted minefield. I know what the '67 borders are all about and I feel comfortable discussing them with everyone. I tell them: If a Palestinian state is created, it has to be one of peace because it's less than a missile's distance from my home and within pistol range of many other Jewish homes here." "The Arab-Israeli conflict has gone through several stages. There was the stage of conventional battle, in which Arab countries sent their forces to destroy us, and which ended with the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Surprisingly, they didn't manage to crush Israel, and in the end we grew closer to Egypt and Damascus. For us, the Yom Kippur War was painful because of the severe losses, but the victory was brilliant. That Israeli success convinced the Arab leaders they would never beat us in a war. So they switched over to terrorism. After several decades of struggle, they understood that even when they used terror the results were the same." "Now we are entering the third stage," Oren says. "This is the diplomatic, legalistic stage based on attempts to delegitimize the state of Israel, even among friends. They seek to revoke a Jewish state's right to exist. When we look at history, the Arabs rejected the British partition plan in 1947. The Palestinians rejected all the offers of compromise, Barak's in 2000 and Olmert's in 2008. The reason is always the same: They are not prepared to pay the price and recognize a Jewish state. The Palestinians will have to give up the refugees' right of return, and yes, we already know we will also have to pay a heavy and painful price."
Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox!
Like our newsletter? 'Like' our Facebook page!
