It’s rare for the head of a worker’s committee to refer to the chairman of the enterprise as a good friend, and to express the wish that when he completes the task for which he’s leaving, that he will return.
But that’s what happened on Monday, when hundreds of people gathered under tents in the courtyard of the National Institutions of the State, came to pay tribute to outgoing Jewish Agency chairman Isaac (Bougie) Herzog, who on Wednesday of this week will officially be sworn in as the 11th president of the State of Israel.
Although Herzog has officially resigned, he is still using his office until the appointment of his successor later this week.
Prior to the resignation, said Hanan Mor, the head of the workers’ committee and the Jewish Agency’s telecommunications specialist, he would not have dared to refer to Herzog as his friend, but now that Herzog is no longer in office, he felt free to do so.
When Herzog took up his position three years ago, said Mor, many people wondered what innovation could he bring to the Jewish Agency.
But Herzog had succeeded so well in upgrading the status of the Jewish Agency that it had become the roof body for all Jewish organizations, declared Mor, adding that one could see the extent to which Herzog had raised the bar in the quality of the individuals who were competing to replace him.
Addressing himself directly to Herzog, Mor said: “Bougie, you are going on a seven-year mission, after which, we hope you will return to the national institutions. Thank you for raising our status.”
Six months after the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency unanimously elected Herzog as chairman to succeed Natan Sharansky, Herzog appointed Amira Ahronoviz as the Agency’s first ever female CEO and director-general. Her appointment put a huge crack in the glass ceiling. Soon after, other women were appointed to high level positions that had previously been male domains.
Ahronoviz, who worked closely with Herzog, characterized him as a man of the people, who relates easily to every sector of society, listens to what they have to say and is sensitive to their needs.
She was certain that Herzog, whom she described as a man of vision and deed, would take these qualities with him to the President’s Residence.
Among those present were people who were either partners, leaders, coordinators or recipients in some of the many projects in which the Jewish Agency is involved.
Herzog has a special fondness for young people, especially children whom he views as the strategists and nation builders of the future. Because of this fondness, two very young immigrants, one from Ukraine, Oliana Goodim, who has been in Israel for a year-and-a-half, and one from Ethiopia, Matadel Sisaia, who has been here for a year, spoke of how the dreams of their respective families to live in Israel have been realized, and how the two girls have managed to master Hebrew grammar. They also suggested to Herzog that in order to integrate comfortably into his new role, he should take a good book with him, cook his favorite meals, and make sure to spend time with his family, because family is so important. They even prepared a framed document to hang on his wall as a reminder.
Herzog in his own speech, spoke of the magnificent, multi-faceted history of the national institutions, emphasizing that the Jewish Agency is a wonderful organization that works untiringly day and night on behalf of the Jewish People. It is a bridge between Israel and the Diaspora, on which some four-and-a-half million immigrants have made their way over the years to build new lives for themselves in Israel. “The Jewish Agency does holy work,” he said, adding that it is also a bridge for the world Jewish family.
Herzog, who is a second-generation Jewish Agency man on both sides of his family, recalled that in March, 1948 his mother, who was studying at the Jewish Agency’s school for diplomats in preparation for the state-in-the-making, was one of 44 people wounded (12 were killed) as the result of a car bomb exploding in the very courtyard in which his farewell ceremony was taking place. She had been carried out in his father’s arms.
“Look where we were then and look where we are now,” said Herzog.
He promised that after moving into his new office “which is only a ten minute walk away,” he would continue to maintain the values that he holds dear, and hoped that during his tenure, Israel would know peace and stability, and would become the most flourishing country in which all who would come to make their homes here, would realize their dreams.
It should be noted that during Herzog’s three years at the helm, 85,000 new immigrants came to Israel, coronavirus notwithstanding.