Former Mossad Officer Speaks in Milwaukee

Former senior Mossad officer and former Milwaukee Jewish Community Emissary, Mosche Ben David, gave a presentation May 9 at the Congregation Sinai in Fox Point. David addressed how sometimes we see the present without seeing the past and Israel is made to look bad because the world doesn’t know the full story.

According to David there are three reasons that Israel is made to look bad.

• He says that the outlet that many anti-Semites     have is through hatred of Israel.
• David also says that people are afraid of     anything pro-Israel. In countries such as Paris, Denmark and certain     cities in Germany, Jewish people are afraid to wear yamakahs because they     are afraid of being attacked by Arabs.
• There is also the notion of double standards.     He said that if the US or NATO as superpowers do something for example,     killing Osama Bin Laden, it is fine. But, if Israel had been the country     to do it there would be a huge backlash.

David talked about the political and security issues in Israel in his presentation entitled, “Israel is in the Eye of the Storm.” Currently there is no “left wing” in Israel. David said that in order for there to be a “left” there needs to be a country to negotiate with. Currently, Israel does not have a country to negotiate with.

The event was free and open to the public. At the end of the presentation audience members were able to ask David questions about Israel and the current situation in the Middle East. 

An audience member asked David about his thoughts on retaliation by Al Qaeda due to the death of Bin Laden since Bin Laden was outspokenly anti-Jewish and anti-Israel. David responded by saying that he thought the main target would be the United States because Al Qaeda is generally against the West.

On May 8, David was the keynote speaker at the “Day of Remembrance” event at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center (LINK http://www.jccmilwaukee.org/).

The Mossad (LINK http://www.mossad.gov.il/Eng/AboutUs.aspx) was appointed by the State of Israel to collect information, analyze intelligence, and perform special covert operations beyond Israel’s borders.

David said, “I think that people who do not know the entire picture do not know the entire history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, they only see the present picture which shows Israel as the aggressor and the oppressor which is a completely diverted picture.

Audience member Randy Bern of Milwaukee didn’t expect to for David to open his presentation talking about Bin Laden. He thought that David would talk about Bid Laden in some way however not right from the beginning.

A Time to Learn

Bern thought that David’s presentation was “fantastic.” Bern knew David from 30 years ago when they were both members at the JCC. He had also seen David around the Milwaukee area a lot during the time that he lived here.

Bern said, “A lot of the things that I heard were questions that I ask myself about Israel everyday.”

Bern also said that he gained knowledge of Israel and how it relates to the world. David had said that here in America we don’t get to see what is actually going on. David explained how people should react with things going on in Israel and the Middle East.

George Strick, a student at UWM, has attended different lectures in an effort to better understand where other people come from. Strick said, “It is important to understand everybody’s culture and to understand the differences in culture in a civil and respectful manner.”

David said that it is important for people to come to presentations like this so they can listen to the facts and then make judgments only after they know the facts. 

A Better Understanding

The parking lot at the Congregation Sinai was packed. Cars lined the streets after the lot was filled in order to attend David’s presentation. Inside the Congregation Sinai people of all backgrounds gathered to listen to what David had to say. With the common goal of a better understanding, the audience members asked David some tough questions.

During the question segment of the presentation David had to give people numbers in order to keep order and avoid confusion.

When asked where David thought Israel would be in 15 years he responded by saying he thought that it would be a strong state. According to David, Israel is already strong economically and the economy is continuing to grow. He also said that currently Israel is in a good situation internally and a poor situation externally.

There was one thing that David really wanted people to take away from his presentation. David said, “I think people should understand that the entire companion against Israel is completely baseless…Israel is not only the only democratic country in the Meddle East but it’s also a country that is trying constantly to come to terms with snipers.”