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Israeli Diplomat: Polls Show Arab Attitudes toward Israel Are Shifting
(Sydney Morning Herald-Australia) Mark Regev interviewed by Latika Bourke - Melbourne-born Mark Regev, Israel's ambassador to Britain, is one of the strongest international voices in favor of the country's policies, fueled by a profound sense of mission. "It's like a play going on and you can either be in the audience and watch...or you can be a participant. And I decided I wanted to be a participant." In Regev's London office sits a photograph of his father and uncle among a group of 30 Jewish pupils. It was taken in 1938 or 1939. Just four of the children would survive the Nazi regime. "It's important to understand where I came from," says Regev, holding the picture. His father's family arrived in Australia in the late 1940s as postwar refugees. Regev's father spent much of the war hiding with his family in the German countryside. "The idea that I grew up with, that I was born with, was Jewish people have to be conscious of their history and we have to make sure that we're no longer defenseless in the way we were in the 1930s and the 1940s." "In the 21st century...we are producing the ideas and the products that the global economy requires. We have leverage that we didn't use to have, and that's why countries like India, like China, like Japan, like South Korea, Singapore are all strengthening their relations with Israel." "You have more and more Arab states who see Israel as a legitimate part of the region, as an ally and a partner." Citing private government polling, Regev says the views of ordinary Arabs are shifting in Israel's favor, partly due to the regional threats posed by Islamic State and Iran's increasing influence.