Jonathan Elkhoury, whose family belonged to the South Lebanon Army (SLA), the Lebanese force that fought alongside Israel in southern Lebanon, is among 36 men and women who began the Israeli Foreign Ministry's diplomatic cadet training program on Monday. "For me, it was the most natural step in my life story, a direct continuation of the alliance my parents forged with the State of Israel," Elkhoury wrote on Facebook.
The 36 cadets were selected from approximately 2,000 applicants from diverse backgrounds who answered the call to represent Israel on the diplomatic stage. The acceptance rate was less than 2%, according to the Foreign Ministry. The new class includes 19 women and 17 men, ages 26 to 51. Some hold senior positions in the civil service, while others come from the private sector, including an architect, a script supervisor and a publisher. The group also includes longtime and recent immigrants from Russia, Ethiopia, England, Venezuela and Canada. The cadets met with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and senior ministry officials at the opening ceremony. Over the next six months, they will undergo comprehensive training before taking up positions at Foreign Ministry headquarters and Israeli diplomatic missions around the world.
Elkhoury also shared a longer message about the significance of his appointment. "I am excited to share that this week I began the Foreign Ministry's cadet course on the diplomatic track, becoming the first member of the SLA community to serve in this role. For me, it was the most natural step in my life story, a direct continuation of the alliance my parents forged with the State of Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, with the establishment of the SLA in southern Lebanon.
"The bond of brotherhood forged in pursuit of a shared goal of peace and good neighborly relations is now becoming a reality through the next generation, of which I am a part, in the country that has become my official and unquestioned home. My sense of belonging grew thanks to Israeli society, and above all through the deep understanding that my fate and the fate of the State of Israel are one."
Jonathan Elkhoury joins the Foreign Ministry's diplomatic cadet course
(Photo: Shlomi Amsalem/GPO)
Elkhoury added: "After nearly 15 years of public activity in international public diplomacy, working with SLA families in Israel and, in recent years, in the media, I am taking this step with a genuine sense of mission and pride in officially representing my country as part of the Foreign Ministry's outstanding diplomatic team."
Speaking to the cadets at Monday's ceremony, Sa'ar said: "Represent Israel with a profound sense of justice. That is the essence of the mission. The better you are as spokespersons, the better diplomats you will be. Anyone who is not a good spokesperson will never be a good diplomat.
"We are fighting a war not only on the battlefield. We are fighting a battle over public perception against enormous forces, and if we do not know how to tell our story and present our narrative, no one else will do it for us."