Oct. 31, 2004 Israel's getting its message across effectively, says new NY consul general By URIEL HEILMAN NEW YORK To hear Arye Mekel tell it, Israel is doing an excellent job explaining itself in America. As the new Israeli consul general in New York, Mekel says Israel's representatives in the United States are getting out the message that Israeli policies have helped reduce Palestinian terrorism, that the West Bank security barrier is good for peace, and that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan is a positive development for the Middle East. It's just that America hasn't quite gotten the message yet. "I think Israel is doing a splendid job on hasbara," says Mekel, using the Hebrew word that translates roughly as public relations. The only reason the American press and the American public have not yet embraced Israel's disengagement plan, he says, is because "they have not digested it." Mekel says he's working hard to change that, meeting with the leaders of major U.S. media outlets, helping mobilize American Jewish opinion and translating Israel's vision of itself to the American public at large. In an interview this week at his office in New York on the day the Knesset voted to approve Sharon's pullout plan from Gaza, Mekel said the world will embrace it as soon as it becomes clear that Israel is serious about the withdrawal. So far, American media outlets have been tepid on disengagement, calling for greater coordination with the Palestinians, while the U.S. government has given its blessing to the planned withdrawal from Gaza. A veteran of Israel's diplomatic corps in America, Mekel also painted a rosy picture of Israel's relationship with the United States, which he said would continue to be Israel's best friend regardless of who wins the Nov. 2 presidential elections. "Our relationship with the United States of America is our most strategic asset, so therefore we have to cultivate it," he said. At 58, Mekel is an old hand in the Foreign Ministry. He started as a foreign policy adviser in the government of Yitzhak Shamir in the 1980s, but since the early 1990s he has spent most of his time in the United States. He crossed the ocean in 1993 to become Israel's consul in Atlanta, after leaving his post at the head of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, then returned to Israel to become director of the government's media center during the early days of the intifada. Most recently, he served as Israel's deputy permanent ambassador to the United Nations. He left in August to go to the consulate, succeeding Alon Pinkas. His new job, Mekel says, is not that much different than his old one at the United Nations-just broader. "Our most important task is representing Israel and the Jewish people," he says. The Jewish people, in turn, should support Israel, he adds. Following a week in which American Jewish organizations debated the efficacy of publicly expressing support for the disengagement plan, Mekel insisted that American Jews must offer Israel their full, unqualified support. In recent days, the American Jewish Congress and Anti-Defamation League have issued statements of strong support for the plan, but the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which is the main U.S. Jewish organizational umbrella, issued a statement last week that fell short of unanimous endorsement of disengagement. "The Jewish community in America should support the decisions of the democratically elected government of the State of Israel," Mekel said. "They should trust the Israeli citizen or the Israeli voter that he or she knows what they're doing. It's very important that the Jewish community in America not try to second-guess the Israeli voter."