Newsletter No. 879
News-Analysis
January 22, 2008

 

AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE PRESIDENT VISITS TOKYO

Back in Shingetsu Newsletter No. 112 in November 2005 we observed that then-American Jewish Committee (AJC) President Robert Goodkind paid a visit to then-Foreign Minister Taro Aso. On that occasion, I briefly outlined the nature of the AJC in its self-proclaimed role as one of the international guardians of Israeli interests, at least as they conceive them. (Close observers of Israeli politics will occasionally note that the American Jewish organizations are not always in full agreement with the Israeli government leaders).

At any rate, a press release from the AJC announces that their organization’s current president, Richard J. Sideman, has spent several days in Tokyo meeting with MOFA leaders such as Minister Masahiko Komura and Special Envoy Tatsuo Arima. As Mr. Goodkind did several years ago, AJC President Sideman encouraged the Japanese leaders to support the “War on Terrorism.” Sideman specifically praised the government’s decision “forcing through” passage of the new MSDF law (over the heads of the upper house and of Japanese public opinion at that time).

The full press statement is provided at the end of this Newsletter.

TIGHTER BUSINESS LINKS BETWEEN JAPAN AND ISRAEL

Since early December there have been fresh signs of tightening business links between Japan and Israel.

The first event was that the “high-powered” business association called the Kioi-Kai group made a three-day visit to Israel in the earlier part of last month. The delegation was led by the group’s founder Yuichi Ishimaru, a special adviser of the Marubeni Corporation, and someone who is apparently very keen to expand Japan-Israel business relations. Ishimaru has had previous experience in Israel, but he also brought along some who were visiting for the first time: Masatake Matsuda, who pioneered the privatization of Japanese railways and is a former president, chairman, and currently senior adviser of the East Japan Railway Company; Katsuya Okimi, CEO of the Beiyu Corporation and former CEO of Nippon Information and Communication Corporation; Yoshiro Kuwata, chairman and CEO of Hitachi High Technologies and Hitachi Medico; Hiroshi Ohira, adviser to Furukawa Electric Industries and chairman of the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Foundation, which was named for his late father who was prime minister of Japan in the early 1980s; Iwao Suzuki, former managing director of Mabuchi Motor Company; and former diplomat Shumiki Sato, who is now adviser to Toyota, Dentsu and a director of Pioneer.

Through introductions provided by Eran Harel and Elchanan Hertz of the Harel-Hertz Investment House, and together with Ambassador Yoshinori Katori, the group was able to meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres. The Israeli president was eager to encourage Japanese investment in the Israeli market, especially the hi-tech sectors. Somewhat undiplomatically, Peres compared Israel to Arab Gulf states like Saudi Arabia in the following terms: “They have oil and we have brains. We're in the brain business.”

He also praised Israeli innovation and openness to change: “You can't give an Israeli anything without him changing it within five minutes.”

Two other business stories about which we have fewer details also emerged. In mid-December, Yoshiro Kuwata -- one of the members of the Kioi-Kai delegation -- suggested that Hitachi Medical might establish an R&D center in Israel, although this idea seems to be a new one for him, and hasn’t been decided yet.

Secondly, and separately, Mitsui OSK Lines has decided to launch a shipping route to Israel which will see stopovers in Ashdod port and Haifa port. This service will begin next month as a feeder line from Damietta, Egypt, but is eventually meant to be a direct line to Japan. The Israel-based agent for this service will be a company called Lucy Borchard Shipping.

AJC President Meets Senior Japanese Officials in Tokyo
American Jewish Committee
January 20, 2008

Tokyo -- An American Jewish Committee delegation, led by AJC President Richard J. Sideman, has concluded several days of talks with Japanese officials and foreign diplomats on Middle East and regional issues.

The visit to Japan is the third and final stop on a three-nation tour, organized by AJC’s Asia Pacific Institute, which included China and South Korea.

“Our discussions in Tokyo reaffirmed the special relationship that Japan and the U.S. has shared for the past 60 years,” said Sideman. “We also thanked the current Japanese government for their strong support of the U.S. war on terror by forcing through Parliament a renewal of Japan’s refueling operations in the Indian Ocean, and for their continued support of the Middle East peace process through their ‘Corridor for Peace and Prosperity’ program.”

As in China and South Korea, AJC shared perspectives on Iran’s continuing uranium enrichment program in defiance of the international community; post-Annapolis prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace; the incomplete compliance of North Korea with six-party agreements on the termination of its nuclear program; regional political and economic developments; and recent U.S. political developments.

During the visit the AJC delegation met a wide variety of government officials, members of the press and think tank representatives, including: Masahiko Koumura, Japan’s minister of Foreign Affairs; Japan’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process, Tatsuo Arima; the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission, Joseph Donovan, Jr.; the Israeli Ambassador, Nissim Ben Shitrit; and senior staff of The Middle East Research Institute of Japan.

The AJC delegation also met the leadership of Japan’s Jewish community at a Shabbat dinner.

For close to twenty years, AJC has made periodic visits to Japan to confer on political, strategic, and economic issues with government officials and non-governmental organizations.

Joining Sideman and his wife, Dr. Jill Sideman, were AJC Board member Ellen Palestrant; AJC Government and International Affairs Director Jason Isaacson; AJC Asia Pacific Institute Director James Busis, and the institute’s Assistant Director, Noga Zimerman.