Keynote Speaker Calls for Elite Team of Israeli Spokespeople

B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem held its annual award ceremony for Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportage on May 26 at the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. Eylon Levy, former Israeli government spokesperson, called on the Israeli government to establish an elite team of spokespeople in all languages and time zones during his keynote address. He likened this team to a special forces unit, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice anywhere in the world, equipped with the necessary ammunition, backup and defensive gear.

Held for the 32nd consecutive year, the ceremony was attended by numerous dignitaries including the Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli, who delivered an address.

This year’s award winners are Elad Simchayoff, European correspondent for Channel 12 News and Canaan Lidor, Jewish World reporter for The Times of Israel. Simchayoff was recognized in the broadcast media category for his coverage of the rising tide of anti-Semitism in Europe following Oct.7 and for his “One a Day” podcast series. Lidor was recognized in the written media category, in memory of Luis and Trudi Schydlowsky, for his extensive coverage on various issues concerning the Jewish world and Jewish communities in Holland, Tunisia, the United States, and elsewhere in 2023. Lidor has previously written for The Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and Maariv.

In his address Levy said: “The Jewish People are a global nation, and the solutions to our challenges must be global. October 7 triggered a regional war, which has become, in every sense, a global war on the Jews. A war in which the pillars of the postwar order, large parts of the international media, and whole swaths of elite institutions have been weaponized against the Jews and their state; in which the watchdogs have become attack dogs, used to launder terrorists’ propaganda, advance their annihilationist goals and give an international seal of approval to efforts to render Jews powerless once more.”

Levy continued: “This information war is existential. Because our global nation cannot afford to live in a globe in which the allegations being hurled at the Jewish state become general knowledge; in which people believe that Israel is committing genocide, or starving the Palestinians, or operating a fascist, apartheid, white settler colony. Because a world in which Israel becomes the ultimate symbol of evil, as so many are trying to paint it, is not a world in which any safe foothold may be found for our global nation, neither here in Israel nor across the diaspora. Because facts beget narrative. Narrative begets legitimacy. Legitimacy begets the material, moral, diplomatic, and military support that we need to keep ourselves safe, as we build our national home, against eight hostile frontiers. Israel exists so we can stop complaining about the hostility against us and organize properly—as a sovereign state intimately embedded in a global diaspora—to rebuff, repel and ultimately repair those problems. This war for Israel’s international standing is global, and we can only win it as a global people. The diaspora is not an afterthought. It is a force multiplier. Israel is a democratic nation-state, but the task of sustaining it must be a partnership between the Jews who dwell in Zion and the Jews who dwell abroad.”

In his acceptance speech, Simchayoff emphasized the discrimination that the Jewish people are facing: “In the last seven months, Jewish communities have been faced with unprecedented hatred and heretofore, unknown levels of violence. Jews are accosted physically; they are singled out and canceled. Jews live in fear and suffer from bullying and threats. They can choose to hide and surrender; such a choice can be understood because the alternative comes at a heavy price. Thanks to those who stand with us, we are not alone, and thanks to us they are not alone. This reciprocity must be fostered and safeguarded.”

In his acceptance speech, Lidor spoke about anti-Semitism in Europe: “Despite all our enemies’ threats and countdown clocks, our time is not borrowed; it is given—given to us along with the land and the book. Like Israel, the Jewish diaspora in Europe—and perhaps also in North America—is experiencing a perilous moment. The current explosion of anti-Semitism and isolation affecting European Jewry, at least, compounds some serious preexisting issues impacting Western societies as a whole: demographic stagnation or decline, assimilation, moral confusion and demoralization. October 7 demonstrated that diaspora Jews are unwanted, even unheard, in academia, the media and some other places that have ensured their post-Holocaust golden age.”

Lidor also noted, “For all its flaws, Israel is vibrant, genuine, unapologetic, and, most importantly, interested in surviving. We need your children to cement Israel’s existence here for centuries; we need your know-how and enthusiasm, and we need your tolerance. The divisions in Israeli society show that if we’re to survive here, we will need to recreate the inspiring dynamic at work in Jewish communities that unite for the common good, with men and women from rival ideologies—and enormous egos—putting them aside to make common cause.”

A special citation for Fostering Israel-Diaspora Relations through the Arts in Memory of Naomi Shemer was presented at the event to internationally acclaimed Israeli singer Ilanit (Hanna Dresner-Tzakh). The citation, established in 2014, has been presented to singer and songwriter Nurit Hirsh, David D’Or, Idan Raichel, David Broza, Yehoram Gaon, Shalva Band, Danny Sanderson, Shuli Natan and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

In her acceptance speech, Ilanit said: “It is a great honor to receive this citation after so many songs, six decades and countless performances all around the world. After my parents left Poland in 1939 at the last moment and arrived in Israel on the Patria, my mother said—so they told me—‘At last we are home.’ This has accompanied me all these years. I have always known that there is no other place for me—only Israel—even though I was made many offers abroad. Every place I perform, I bring the beautiful songs of Israel and tell the audience—Jews and non-Jews alike—about our beautiful land and people. I try to unit our people through song because unity is what we need.”

B’nai B’rith World Center Chairman Haim Katz also addressed the event, and award jury considerations were presented by Yehudit Aurbach and Professor Gabriela Shalev.

Since its establishment in 1992, the B’nai B’rith World Center Award for Journalism has recognized excellence in reporting on contemporary Diaspora Jewish communities and on the state of Israel-Diaspora relations in Israeli print, broadcast and online media. Widely recognized as the most prestigious prize in the Israeli media industry for Diaspora reportage, it was established to help strengthen the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora. The award is presented in memory of the late Wolf Matsdorf, editor of the World Center’s journal “Leadership Briefing,” and journalist in Israel and Australia, and his wife Hilda, a pioneer in social work in both countries.

Watch the full ceremony here, and watch Eylon Levy’s keynote address here.