On Tuesday 20th November 2012 the Anglo-Israel Association welcomed over 300 distinguished guests to the 63rd Annual Balfour Dinner, this year held in London. The evening brought together parliamentarians, diplomats, clergy, including the Bishop of Durham soon to be the new Archbishop of Canterbury, together with a wide cross section of Jewish and Gentile supporters.
Lord Bew the Chairman of the Association welcomed the guests. The Israeli Ambassador, HE Daniel Taub, who commented on the possibility of a cease fire but stressed this had to be a proper agreement and not a cease fire which was a pause to allow Hamas to reload. He warned the West “Has Hamas found our Achilles heel”? Embedding rocket launches among kindergartens, schools and hospital to prevent attack? He concluded we cannot let terrorists operate with immunity from the heart of civilian areas, because if we do we offer an open invitation to terrorists groups around the world to do the same.
The guest speaker of the night was Major General (res) Aharon Zeevi Farkash the former head of Israeli Military Intelligence. Major Farkash’s main concern was that the West did not realise who their enemy was. On listening to the 3rd debate between President Obama and Romney they were asked,” what is the number one external threat?” Obama replied China, Romney replied Iran. General Farkash said “my reply is Radical Sunni Islam”.
Major General (RES.) Aharon Zeevi Farkash Is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of security, military and intelligence. During the General’s service in the IDF, he served in a variety of roles both in the field and on the general staff. He was also prominent in strategic planning, direction of projects and management and leader of large units such as the Israel Sigint National Unit, the Technological and Logistics Branch, the Planning Branch and the Defense Intelligence Branch
General Farkash is Founder, Chairman and CEO of FST21 ltd a company of Advanced Security Technology Services. He established FST21 with the exciting challenge of creating the future of intelligent building safety & security solutions based on a fusion of 2nd generation video/voice biometrics & analytics.
The General served as the Head of the Intelligence and National Defense Program for the Institute of National Security Studies (INSS) at the Tel Aviv University.
He volunteers as Chairman of Public Management of the Ben Yakir Youth Village in Kfar Ha’roeh, as well as a member of the Ghetto Fighters’ House Friends. He is a member of The Hebrew University’s Board of Trustees.
General Farkash is a member of R&D Advisory Committee to the Minister of Defense in developing future technology weapons.
During his service in the IDF, General Farkash completed advanced studies including Brigade Command, Division Command, and Military & Defense Strategic Doctrine. He received a B.A. and M.A. in Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies from Tel Aviv University.
General Farkash is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program of Harvard Business School.
Author of the book – To The Best Of Our Knowledge: Intelligence, Operations and Policy.
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With over two decades of experience in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Daniel Taub has played a key role in a wide range of diplomatic, legal and political arenas.
As Principal Deputy Legal Adviser of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Taub served as legal adviser to Israel’s missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and represented Israel in many multilateral fora.
Ambassador Taub was extensively involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, helping negotiate most of the agreements reached between the two sides, and heading the Israeli side of the Culture of Peace track of negotiations. He was also an active member of Israel’s negotiation team in the Israel-Syrian negotiations.
Ambassador Taub is a much sought after lecturer on Middle Eastern issues, international law and negotiation theory. He is frequently invited to appear on television and radio, and lectures widely in universities and policy institutes in Israel and abroad. Within Israel’s foreign ministry he developed and taught training programs for Israeli diplomats in negotiation strategies and communications skills.
In his army service, Ambassador Taub served as a combat medic and as a reserve officer in the IDF’s international law division.
Ambassador Taub holds degrees from the universities of Oxford (University College), London (University College), and Harvard (Kennedy School of Government).
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