The AJC of advocacy
WE are at a defining moment for Israel and world Jewry, American Jewish Committee (AJC) executive director David Harris said in Sydney late last month.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading Jewish diplomats, Harris was in Australia as a guest of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), with whom the AJC works closely.
Addressing a group of Jewish young adult leaders, he summarised the issues that are currently at stake for Israel and the Jewish people and how to effectively advocate on Israel’s behalf.
He outlined three key issues.
“One of them is the additional life given to the effort to delegitimise, to isolate, to demonise the State of Israel,” he said.
“The second, as many of you saw, in several European capitals [during Operation Protective Edge] you had these outbursts – these paroxysms – of anti-Semitism.
“The third element is the march of radical Islam.”
In his role with the AJC, in September alone Harris met with 79 presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers in New York. He spends the rest of the year traversing the globe to advocate.
“The lessons I take away from decades of this kind of frontline advocacy are first, advocacy is not a debate,” he explained.
“Because I prove the other side wrong and all I’ve done at the end is to alienate the other person … My real goal in advocacy is not to win the debate, it’s to create a win-win negotiating situation. It’s to narrow the space.”
He said effective advocacy requires the patience and the perseverance “of a long distance runner”, while advocates also need to learn how to listen.
“If I go into the room and it’s only and all about my agenda, how am I going to get the second meeting?” he said.
“Effective advocacy is learning how to listen, it’s learning to try and tease out what’s their button, what do they want, can we help.”
Most importantly, it was about building a bond of trust.
“At this defining moment in time, [we need] smart, effective advocacy, using all the tools that we can muster,” he concluded.
“And remembering, that as right as we believe we are, in the end effective advocacy is not just about being right, it’s about being smart.”
GARETH NARUNSKY
David Harris speaking in Sydney. Photo: Gareth Narunsky
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