It was a powerful eulogy of diplomacy, almost more powerful because it was delivered by a man who has fought for diplomacy and seen it fail in his country because of the inability of political leaders on both sides to take the price that peace always has.
Shlomo Ben Ami, former Israeli foreign minister and former ambassador to Spain, made a display of erudition and moral tenacity yesterday in an intimate event held at the Equestrian Circle to present him with the Ramon Trias Fargas Memorial. It has been awarded every year – for the past 27 years – by the Freedom and Democracy Foundation to distinguish the defense of rights and freedoms, in the words of its president, Genís Boadella, member of PDECat.
Born in 1943 in Tangier, in a Sephardic Jewish family that immigrated to Israel, Ben Ami treasures as many readings as he has lived historical moments in the first person. Historian specialized in the modern history of Spain, disciple at Oxford of the Hispanist Raymond Carr, he was the second ambassador that his country sent to Madrid after Felipe González recognized the Jewish State. Labour’s Foreign Minister Ehud Barak led the negotiations at Camp David (2000), the moment when the Israelis and Palestinians were closest to peace and they let it slip away. An episode that unfolds in his latest book, Profetas sin honor (RBA).
Ben Ami has also dedicated himself to seeking peace in other geographies. Recently, he played a discreet but prominent role as an advisor to the Colombian Government in the negotiations with the FARC, with a historic agreement that earned President Santos the Nobel Peace Prize.
That is why his speech yesterday at the Equestrian Circle resonated beyond the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. “Diplomacy is the art of common sense, tact and intelligence at the service of resolving conflicts peacefully”, he said. “Even if one party loses more than the other, their dignity must be respected”, he added. “Politics should not be approached with eternal truths, but with a spirit of compromise”.
Are we condemned to repeat history, to not learn from the mistakes of our predecessors? Is this the lesson of the war in Ukraine?, asked Ben Ami. History, he answered, quoting Isaiah Berlin, arises from the encounter between the structures we inherit and the ever-unpredictable human choice. “In the end the choice is ours. It is moral responsibility that compels us not to surrender to the logic of conflict,” he said.
Sitting in the front row was former president Jordi Pujol, whom Ben Ami, at the beginning of his parliament, thanked for his presence, described as “a pivot of the politics of this country” and of whom he highlighted “the contribution to the consolidation of Spanish and Catalan democracy”. Ben Ami, who comes from a country where politics has devoured many of his champions, dedicated some meaningful words of consolation to him that alluded to the fall from grace. Proportional to the size of his figure, he came to say. “Great political careers usually end with great resonance”, the diplomat emphasized.
In addition to Genís Boadella, president of Llibertat i Democràcia, former deputy Jordi Xuclà, predecessor in office and now president of the jury, and Josep Antoni Duran Lleida, who glossed over the figure of the awardee, spoke.
Freedom and Democracy is a foundation that brings together the liberal wing of the old convergents, a political space that has been orphaned with the implosion of CiU due to the process. Among the attendees were the president of PDECat, David Bonvehí, the former councilor and current councilor for Junts a l’Ajuntament de Barcelona Victòria Alsina, or the former councilor and ex-mayor of Sant Cugat del Vallès Lluís Recoder.
The lawyer Juan José López Burniol, a friend of the awardee, also attended; Senén Florensa, executive president of the European Mediterranean Institute (IEMed); the honorary consul of Israel, Yosef David Sanchez-Molina, and the consuls of Ecuador, El Salvador, Kazakhstan and Georgia.
There were cracks for some confidence. Before the act began, Bonvehí approached to greet Pujol, sitting with his cane on a sofa. Pujol asked him how they were doing in this “long stage”. “It is a stage that has ended, president. We’ll leave this PDECat thing alone – Bonvehí told him. I’ll come and explain it to them.”
