Shlomo Ben-Ami
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Shlomo Ben-Ami (; born 17 July 1943) is a former Israeli diplomat, politician, and historian who participated in the
Israeli–Palestinian peace process Intermittent discussions are held by various parties and proposals put forward in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through a peace process. Since the 1970s, there has been a parallel effort made to find terms upon which ...
, including the 2000 Camp David Summit.


Biography

Shlomo Benabou (later Ben-Ami) was born in Tangier, Morocco to Moroccan Jewish parents. He immigrated to Israel in 1955. He was educated at
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
and St Antony's College, Oxford from which he received a D.Phil. in history. Ben-Ami speaks fluent Hebrew, Spanish, French, and English.


Academic career

He was a historian at
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
from the mid-1970s, serving as head of the School of History from 1982 to 1986. His initial field of study was Spanish history; his 1983 biography of the former Spanish dictator (1923–30), General Primo de Rivera, is recognized as the most authoritative study on this subject. He later turned his attention to the history of Israel and the Middle East, leaving a legacy of expertise in Spanish interwar politics.


Diplomatic and political career

From 1987 until 1991, before he entered politics, he was the Israeli ambassador to Spain. In 1996 he was elected to the
Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
on Labour's list. When the One Israel-led government of
Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...
took office in July 1999, Ben-Ami became the Minister of Internal Security, responsible for the Israel Police. In August 2000, when David Levy resigned as
Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
during talks with Palestinian leaders in the United States, Barak designated Ben-Ami to be the acting Foreign Minister and he was officially appointed to the role in November 2000. Ben-Ami remained Foreign Minister and Security Minister until March 2001, when, having won elections, Ariel Sharon took over from Barak. Ben-Ami refused to serve in the Sharon government and resigned from the Knesset in August 2002. In their report published in 2003, the Or Commission held him responsible for the behavior of security forces during the October 2000 riots in which Israeli police killed 12 Israeli Arabs and one Palestinian, and failed to predict and control rioting which resulted in the death of a Jewish Israeli. The report recommended that Ben-Ami be disqualified from serving as Internal Security Minister in the future. Despite the disqualification, Ben-Ami was not considered to be a hard-liner in Israeli relations with the Palestinians and during his time in the Barak government, he was a political rival of
Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...
. , Ben-Ami is Vice-President of the Toledo International Centre for Peace (TICpax), which, according to its mission statement, "seeks to contribute to the prevention and resolution of violent or potentially violent international or intranational conflicts and to the consolidation of peace, within a framework of respect and promotion of Human Rights and democratic values." Ben-Ami is the author of '' Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli–Arab Tragedy'' (Oxford, 2006), which challenges many of the founding myths in Israel's modern history especially related to the war of independence. His latest book is
Prophets without Honor: The 2000 Camp David Summit and the End of the Two-State Solution
' (Oxford, 2022). Ben-Ami backed the Meretz party for the 2009 Knesset elections.


Later career

, Ben-Ami is vice president of the Toledo International Centre for Peace of which he is a co-founder.Israel versus America versus Iran , US & Canada , Al Jazeera
/ref> Through the center, he has been involved in conflict resolution processes such as among others, in Colombia, Dominican Republic ( the tensions with Haiti ), Bolivia ( intercultural issues ), Russia-Georgia, Libya ; Spanish Sahara, and Israel-the Arab world. In 2016, he was the co-chair ( together with ex-chief of Mossad Efraim Halevi ) of an Israeli commission for strategic planning. He has lectured extensively in international conferences in Europe, Russia, the U.S. and Latin America. He is a regular contributor to Project Syndicate since 2006.


Interviews

In an interview on Democracy Now!, Ben-Ami described how his perspective differs from that of the New Historians:
My view is that, but for Jesus Christ, everybody was born in sin, including nations. And the moral perspective of it is there, but at the same time it does not undermine, in my view, in my very modest view, the justification for the creation of a Jewish state, however tough the conditions and however immoral the consequences were for the Palestinians. You see, it is there that I tend to differ from the interpretation of the new historians. They have made an incredible contribution, a very, very important contribution to our understanding of the origins of the state of Israel, but at the same time, my view is that this is how — unfortunately, tragically, sadly — nations were born throughout history.
He goes on to describe his perspective on the goal of the
peace process A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...
and its outcome:
And our role, the role of this generation—this is why I came into politics and why I try to make my very modest contribution to the peace process—is that we need to bring an end to this injustice that has been done to the Palestinians. We need to draw a line between an Israeli state, a sovereign Palestinian state, and solve the best way we can the problem, by giving the necessary compensation to the refugees, by bringing back the refugees to the Palestinian state, no way to the state of Israel, not because it is immoral, but because it is not feasible, it is not possible. We need to act in a realistic way and see what are the conditions for a final peace deal. I believe that we came very, very close to that final peace deal. Unfortunately, we didn't make it. But we came very close in the year 2001.


Published works

*''Spain between Dictatorship and Democracy: 1937-1977'' (Am Oved, 1977) (in Hebrew) *''The Origins of the Second Republic in Spain'' (Oxford University Press, 1978). *Historia del Estado de Israel -junto a Zvi Medin- (Ediciones Rialp, 1981). *''Fascism from Above: Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in Spain, 1923–1930'' (Oxford University Press, 1983) *''Italy between Liberalism and Fascism'' (1986) *Anatomia de una Transición natomy of a Transition(1990) (in Spanish) *''Quel avenir pour Israël?'' hich Future for Israel? (Presses Universitaires de France, 2001) (Hachette Littérature 2002), . *''A Front Without a Homefront: A Voyage to the Boundaries of the Peace Process'' (Yedioth Ahatonoth, Tel-Aviv, 2004). *'' Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli–Arab Tragedy'' (Oxford University Press 2006), . *


References


External links

*
Column archives
at Project Syndicate *
The Rise and Fall of the Oslo Process
University of Utah lecture, 2 March 2004
Debate
with Norman Finkelstein, '' Democracy Now'', 14 February 2006
Toledo International Centre for Peace – TICpax
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Ami, Shlomo 1943 births Living people Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford Ambassadors of Israel to Spain Historians of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera 21st-century Israeli Jews Israeli Labor Party politicians Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Ministers of foreign affairs of Israel Ministers of public security of Israel 20th-century Moroccan Jews Moroccan emigrants to Israel One Israel politicians People from Asilah People from Kiryat Shmona Tel Aviv University alumni Academic staff of Tel Aviv University 20th-century Israeli Jews