INSIGHT
ZE'EV CHAFETS
Israel Correspondent
D
uring the Israeli-
Egyptian Camp
David negotations,
Zalman Shoval, at that time
an adviser to Foreign Min-
ister Moshe Dayan, was sent
to Washington to coordinate
Israeli information efforts in
the US.
Shoval installed himself in
the private office of Ambas-
sador Simcha Dinitz, who
was at Camp David with the
Israeli delegation. One mor-
ning, the visiting diplomat
idly hit the emergency
security button under the
ambassador's desk, and was
startled to find himself in-
stantly surrounded by arm-
ed guards.
According to Israeli polit-
ical legend, Dinitz, when he
heard the story, asked one of
the guards, "Why didn't you
shoot him?"
Following recent reports
that Zalman Shoval is on his
way back to the Israeli Em-
bassy as ambassador (the
appointment is expected to
be approved by the cabinet),
the Camp David anecdote
has been recounted over and
over in the Israeli press. The
reason lies less in the quali-
ty of the story than in the
fact that Shoval, after a
lifetime in Israeli politics,
has inspired few others.
Indeed, the 60-year-old
Shoval has a reputation for
gentlemanly competence —
and dullness — rare for a
veteran of the rough-and-
tumble world of Israeli
politics. Since entering the
Knesset in 1969, he has
maintained a visible,
sometimes prominent public
profile without having ut-
tered a memorable word, or
performing a single notable
deed.
The new ambassador's
critics (mostly in the oppos-
ing Labor Party) claim that
his bland persona will fur-
ther weaken the status of
the Israeli Embassy in
Washington, which has
Artwork from the Los Angeles Times by Catherine Kanner. Copyright o 1988, Catherine Kanner. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
New Envoy
To The U.S.
An experienced diplomat, politician and public
relations expert, Zalman Shoval will have his hands
full just pulling the Washington embassy together
slipped noticeably in recent
years. His boss, Yitzhak
Shamir, on the other hand,
hopes that Shoval will be
able to help calm the tense
relationship between Wash-
ington and Jersualem, and
use his public relations ex-
pertise to make Israel's case
in the United States.
Although Shoval, a Likud
Member of Knesset, is a po-
litical appointee, he has
strong credentials for the
post. For one thing, the tall,
dapper politician looks like
an ambassador. He speaks
several languages, including
excellent, lightly accented
English.
And he has professional
experience. As a young man,
Shoval was one of the first
Israelis to join the foreign
service, and he served as a
junior diplomat until leav-
ing the ministry for a busi-
ness career in the mid-'50s.
After a 20 year hiatus in
finance and politics, he
returned to the foreign min-
istry during the first Begin
administration, as a special
adviser on information af-
fairs.
Finally, as a veteran poli-
tician, Shoval brings with
him the authority of a long-
term, if not particularly in-
timate, relationship with
Prime Minister Shamir.
Shoval is also a wealthy
man, a rarity for an Israeli
diplomat. He is married to
the daughter of Moshe Meir,
once listed by Fortune maga-
zine as one of the world's
richest people.
Meir, a Geneva-based
Israeli, brought his son-in-
law into the business, and in
recent years Shoval has been
involved in running the
family's Israeli operations.
Over the years he has ac-
quired the reputation as a
solid, if unspectacular, busi-
nessman.
Shoval's political views
are also solid and centerist.
He began his career in the
Rafi Party, a group that
broke away from Mapai (the
forerunner of today's Labor
Party) under the leadership
of David Ben Gurion in the
mid-'60s. Among Shoval's
fellow Rafists at the time
were Moshe Dayan, Shimon
Peres and former President
Yitzhak Navon.
When Rafi's Young Turks
rejoined Labor, in the late
'60s, Shoval remained loyal
to Ben Gurion. In 1969 he
ran for Knesset on Ben
Gurion's renamed State List
Party. He lost, but entered
the parliament as a
replacement when Ben
Gurion resigned.
In the mid-'70s, the State
List, led by Shoval and his
longtime partner, Yigael
Horowitz, joined the Likud.
Since then, Shoval has been
a member of the moderate
Likud bloc, someplace to the
right of Shimon Peres and
the left of Moshe Arens. In-
deed, the ambassador-
designate occupies a position
almost directly in the center
of the national political spec-
trum.
As ambassador, Shoval's
personal political views will
be less important than his
ability to articulate govern-
ment policy, and it is here
that he believes that he can
make a key contribution. As
the head of a special Knesset
subcommittee on hasbara,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
39