{"id":627258,"date":"2026-09-25T16:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T16:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/627258\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T16:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T16:50:17","slug":"fm-saar-israels-diplomatic-battlefield-is-as-important-as-the-military-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/627258\/","title":{"rendered":"FM Sa’ar: Israel’s diplomatic battlefield is as important as the military one"},"content":{"rendered":"

For nearly two years, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar<\/a> has been pursuing a diplomatic goal that, given the current international climate surrounding Israel, might sound almost unimaginable: persuading foreign governments to move their embassies to Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

The campaign is about far more than where diplomats work. It is part of a broader struggle over Israel\u2019s place in the international system \u2013 a struggle that Sa\u2019ar increasingly sees as a component of national security alongside the wars being fought on Israel\u2019s borders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Next month, Colombia<\/a> is expected to become the 10th country to operate an embassy in Jerusalem. Israel has also reached an understanding with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to open an embassy, although no date has yet been set.<\/p>\n

For Sa\u2019ar, the numbers are significant. When he took office less than two years ago, he said, Jerusalem had roughly half the number of foreign embassies it has today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is important,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is one of the indications that even during this challenging period, we have managed to expand and deepen our diplomatic ties, while at the same time dealing with struggles and blockages in other arenas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ININ A cynical reality where everyone finds a way to keep communication channels open with everybody else, diplomacy becomes a game of interests, the foreign minister says. Here, Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka converses with Sa\u2019ar in Suva, in June. (credit: Leon Lord\/AFP via Getty Images)Progress does not happen on its own<\/p>\n

The progress, he stressed, did not happen by itself. Sa\u2019ar made expanding the Foreign Ministry\u2019s diplomatic presence in Jerusalem one of its measurable goals. \u201cI am also working on it. It doesn\u2019t happen by itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Sa\u2019ar, diplomatic recognition is ultimately a battle over competing narratives \u2013 and Israel cannot afford to leave that arena unanswered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe struggle for our rights is narrative against narrative,\u201d he said. \u201cIs Jerusalem the ancient capital of the Jewish people, which was never the capital of any other people or state? Or is it something else, which, at best, needs to be divided?\u201d<\/p>\n

Moving an embassy to Jerusalem is not an easy decision for a foreign government. Such governments know they may face criticism from the Palestinians, Arab states, and other parts of the international community. That, Sa\u2019ar argued, is why every decision to move an embassy matters.<\/p>\n

The conversations, he said, often begin long before a leader takes office. With Colombia, he raised the issue with President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella before the election. He discussed it with Nauru\u2019s vice president during a visit to Fiji and recently raised it with Slovenia\u2019s prime minister.<\/p>\n

The circumstances vary from country to country, Sa\u2019ar said, but the principle is the same: Israel has to ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to know how to give in places that are important to them, but you also have to know how to demand and put forward the things that are important to you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sa\u2019ar quoted Ze\u2019ev Jabotinsky: \u201cDifficult \u2013 that means possible.\u201d \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean it is easy,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it is possible in many places.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel-UK relations deteriorate to ‘unprecedented low’<\/p>\n

IF JERUSALEM represents Sa\u2019ar\u2019s long-term diplomatic campaign, Britain represents the tougher side of his approach.<\/p>\n

Relations between Jerusalem and London have deteriorated significantly under the Labour government, particularly following Britain\u2019s decision to impose sanctions<\/a> related to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Sa\u2019ar described the relationship as being at an \u201cunprecedented low.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel responded with its own measures, including the closure of the British Consulate in east Jerusalem, restrictions on the activities of British representatives dealing with issues related to the Palestinian Authority and Gaza, and the declaration of several British figures as persona non grata.<\/p>\n

Sa\u2019ar rejected the suggestion that such measures are merely diplomatic theater.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who acts against Israel with a unilateral, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel approach, like the Labour government, will lose its effectiveness and relevance in the region,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a country, we are not prepared to allow attacks against us to go unanswered.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes the response can also affect other governments\u2019 calculations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had not acted in this way,\u201d he said, \u201cI have no doubt that other countries would have taken identical steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Sa\u2019ar is already looking beyond the current Labour government. He pointed to criticism of Labour\u2019s Israel policy from both the Conservatives and Reform UK.<\/p>\n

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, he said, has indicated that his party would reverse some of the measures if it came to power. For Sa\u2019ar, the episode illustrates a basic reality of diplomacy: governments change.<\/p>\n

Iran presents unique challenge to Israeli diplomacy<\/p>\n

Iran presents a different challenge. Despite a series of meetings held by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during the UN General Assembly in New York, including meetings with Western foreign ministers, Sa\u2019ar rejected the argument that Tehran emerged from the latest regional upheaval diplomatically strengthened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Iran has become stronger diplomatically,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it has become weaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to the international campaign against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, noting that numerous countries have designated the organization a terrorist group, as well as steps by some governments to reduce diplomatic relations with Tehran. He also cited Iran\u2019s suppression of protests and its regional activities.<\/p>\n

Still, Sa\u2019ar did not claim that Iran has become isolated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is a cynical world,\u201d he said. \u201cUsually, everyone conducts dialogue with everyone, in one way or another.\u201d International politics, he added, is \u201calso a game of interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

That pragmatism is particularly relevant to the question of whether Washington and Tehran will return to negotiations. Sa\u2019ar does not currently see an agreement on the horizon. But he also refused to declare diplomacy dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cReality is dynamic,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can also change.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Israel, however, one issue remains constant: Iran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur highest commitment is to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons,\u201d Sa\u2019ar said. \u201cThat has not changed.\u201d If necessary, he added, Israel will act.<\/p>\n

The same logic applies to the Houthis, although Sa\u2019ar distinguished between confronting a threat and assuming responsibility for every regional crisis. He described the Houthi threat as serious but rejected the idea that Israel should automatically intervene.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there is any country that has contributed more than the State of Israel to harming the Houthis and weakening the Houthis in recent years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israel, he added, cannot solve every problem in the world. \u201cNot even all the problems in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, Sa\u2019ar said, Jerusalem will continue to maintain discreet channels of dialogue, while acting in line with its national interests.<\/p>\n

Latin America open for diplomatic breakthroughs<\/p>\n

AGAINST THE backdrop of mounting international pressure, Sa\u2019ar sees Latin America as one of the areas where Israel can still expand its diplomatic reach. He has declared the current year the \u201cYear of Latin America\u201d at the ministry, arguing that the continent offers significant opportunities for diplomatic breakthroughs.<\/p>\n

Colombia is the clearest example. In a relatively short period, Israel moved from a highly strained relationship under former president Gustavo Petro to expanding ties with his successor, including the planned move of Colombia\u2019s embassy to Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

For Sa\u2019ar, the lesson is that Israel cannot simply wait for election results. He began cultivating relationships before politicians reached power.<\/p>\n

He recalled meeting de la Espriella nearly a year before the election, when the future president was still relatively low in the polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou build relationships,\u201d Sa\u2019ar said. \u201cYou cultivate relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to Honduras as another example of the long-term value of such engagement. Israel sends medical teams there, including ophthalmologists who perform surgeries, while other projects focus on water, agriculture, and health.<\/p>\n

For Sa\u2019ar, diplomacy is not limited to UN votes or presidential statements. It is also about building relationships between people and companies.<\/p>\n

There is a strategic dimension to that work as well. The Trump administration has placed renewed emphasis on the western hemisphere, Sa\u2019ar noted, giving Israeli engagement in Latin America added significance for Washington.<\/p>\n

Still, he acknowledged that the picture is far from uniform. Mexico remains challenging, he said, while other countries in the region are moving in different political directions.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in countries where we have made progress, we still have many more steps to take forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sa\u2019ar is also advocating a more open approach toward some of Europe\u2019s right-wing political parties, while stressing that dialogue does not automatically mean normalization.<\/p>\n

Last week, he praised a speech by Austrian Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl, calling it significant in part because of its reference to Austria\u2019s Nazi past, expression of regret toward Jews, and positive references to Israel.<\/p>\n

For decades, Israel kept its distance from the party because of concerns surrounding its ideological history. Those concerns, Sa\u2019ar said, have not suddenly disappeared.<\/p>\n

But he believes Kickl\u2019s speech provides a basis for opening a dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a decision to conduct dialogue,\u201d he emphasized. \u201cIt is still not a decision on normalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

The distinction is deliberate. Israel, Sa\u2019ar said, will listen, ask questions, and examine commitments. It will not automatically turn a speech into political recognition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will enter this dialogue with an open mind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Sa\u2019ar returned to the argument that has come to define his approach: Israel cannot afford to treat diplomacy as secondary to military power.<\/p>\n

During his tenure, he said, the ministry\u2019s budget has increased, five Israeli diplomatic missions have been established, and greater resources have been allocated to public diplomacy and the battle over Israel\u2019s international image.<\/p>\n

The importance of that campaign has become especially clear during the war. Israel is confronting military threats, but also diplomatic pressure, economic measures, legal proceedings, and an international campaign over its legitimacy.<\/p>\n

\"ForeignForeign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hold a press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026 (credit: CHAIM GOLDBERG\/FLASH90)Sa’ar focuses on broad narrative battle against Israel<\/p>\n

Sa\u2019ar rejected the argument that Israel is responding too slowly to cultural events that portray the country negatively. Referring to the film NAZA, which was screened at the Venice Film Festival and which he said portrayed Israel as committing genocide while comparing it to Nazi Germany, Sa\u2019ar dismissed the idea that the government could simply have prevented the screening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat could we have done?\u201d he asked. \u201cGo into the editing rooms and change it?\u201d<\/p>\n

For Sa\u2019ar, focusing on a single film misses the larger battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a single item,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is part of a much broader war.\u201d<\/p>\n

That may be the central idea behind Sa\u2019ar\u2019s tenure at the Foreign Ministry. The battlefield can determine what happens on the ground. But the diplomatic battlefield, he argued, determines how much room for maneuver Israel will have once the fighting stops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For nearly two years, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar has been pursuing a diplomatic goal that, given the current…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6557,18263,65,42,46,23132,43,40,38,41,39,1299],"class_list":["post-627258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-diplomacy","tag-foreign-ministry","tag-gideon-saar","tag-headlines","tag-israel","tag-israeli-embassy","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}