Israeli Consul General to the Southwest Livia Link-Raviv will be leaving Houston this summer, after serving the Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico Jewish communities for the past five years. <\/p>\n
Link-Raviv came to Houston during the COVID-19 pandemic, served during the Oct. 7, 2023, tragedy and return of the hostages and has helped the Jewish community combat the rise of antisemitism.<\/p>\n
She has taken pride in making herself present within all areas of the Houston Jewish community and strengthening their connection to Israel.<\/p>\n
Before officially leaving, Link-Raviv sat down with the JHV in her office to talk about her time in Houston, including the relationships formed, challenges met and her children starting to talk Texan.<\/p>\n
Below is a Q&A taken from the interview.<\/p>\n
JHV: What accomplishments are you most proud of during your time in Houston?
LINK-RAVIV: It\u2019s hard to pick just a few, but I\u2019m very proud of all the work the consulate has been doing. At the end of the day, the biggest achievement is forging and creating relationships. That is what we are here for and that is what we do, day in and day out. We then use those relationships to create influence. <\/p>\n
I think we have done that in three major ways: One world is the political realm. The second is in community outreach. We really invested a lot in reaching out to all the different and diverse communities because Houston is so special. The third world is combatting antisemitism and managing and working after Oct. 7. <\/p>\n
We\u2019ve also done interfaith work and in the Hispanic community, which I think we\u2019ve done well. Also, the decision for Texas to open an economic office in Israel \u2013 that was huge, and we worked incredibly hard to get there and I\u2019m very happy about that.<\/p>\n
JHV: Talk about the relationships you\u2019ve formed in Houston.
LINK-RAVIV: The Jewish communities are our biggest partners in our work. The secret is personal relationships. I love hosting. I open my house as often as possible to host as many events and people as possible. I worked toward creating partnerships and alliances.<\/p>\n
JHV: A good amount of your work is in Houston or other areas of Texas, but how important has your work been with the smaller Jewish communities in some of the other states you cover?
LINK-RAVIV: We cover five states. It\u2019s a huge turf. Physically, it is a huge territory. It is always a challenge to cover it all from within. I traveled as much as possible to touch the places and the people and get to know them personally. Of course, you can\u2019t travel every day.<\/p>\n
I think the smaller Jewish communities are a huge story and a huge asset, but also a huge challenge. Just being with them, seeing them and our presence goes a long way. We tried to connect them to the relevant organizations in Israel and here, and the Federations have special programs to connect the smaller communities to the larger communities, and I think this network is working well. Mutual solidarity is important.<\/p>\n
JHV: What\u2019s been the most fun part of your job here?
LINK-RAVIV: I think I have the best job in the world. I really do. It is very personal and I love my job. I try to enjoy every aspect of the work if possible. I really enjoy immersing myself in the Texas experience. Just living that life is unique and I love it.<\/p>\n
I also enjoy experiencing things firsthand, like the rodeo. It was my first rodeo, as they say. I also had my first Thanksgiving, which was so nice, and then I got to host the next one. The pride of representing my country here is a joy.<\/p>\n
JHV: What\u2019s been the toughest part of your job?
LINK-RAVIV: Most definitely Oct. 7. It was a life-changing event for all of us. It was challenging certainly as an Israeli, as a Jewish person, as a person who has family and friends in Israel and as a mother who is worried about her children. It was challenging work-wise, just having to navigate everything and have so many balls in the air at once. I\u2019m giving countless media interviews, conferences and talks.<\/p>\n
We also were worried about our own personal safety, as Israeli diplomats are targets all over the world. We also had to take care of our staff \u2013 both Americans and Israelis alike \u2013 as it affected all of them \u2013 everyone\u2019s mental health. And that was one of our priorities because, if we are not doing well, we won\u2019t be able to do our work.<\/p>\n
JHV: In your position, you are involved in the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox communities, and divided over the full political spectrum. How have you used your role to unify all of those differences?
LINK-RAVIV: My motto is \u2018I go everywhere; I speak everywhere.\u2019 I see myself as a part of all the different communities. I try to be there and be present and work on those relationships. Inviting everyone is the key.<\/p>\n
I genuinely have the utmost respect for all of the different Houston Jewish communities. It is very important to be there and conduct a productive dialogue, respect and talking about our common denominator, which is Israel. I get to be the bridge, which is amazing.<\/p>\n
JHV: Antisemitism has worsened over the past few years. What is the best way for our community to deal with all the hate?
LINK-RAVIV: Combatting antisemitism has been a big part of our work, but after Oct. 7, it became even more so because of the alarming rise of antisemitism globally. Texas is not immune. No place is. My best strategy is to call it out. Don\u2019t be silent because it won\u2019t work and won\u2019t help. Be proud of being Jewish.<\/p>\n
The most important thing is not doing it alone. We have allies. We work on these partnerships and alliances. At the end of the day, we have to remember antisemitism is not a Jewish problem or an Israeli problem. It is an all-society problem, and we need to fight it as such. All the work we do with different communities, it helps, because [society] should care about it as much as the Jewish community because hate is hate. Today, it is aimed toward us, but tomorrow, it could hurt a different community.<\/p>\n
JHV: What do you think about the current situation in Iran and what does it mean for Israel?
LINK-RAVIV: Israel and the U.S. fighting together militarily is unprecedented. The intimacy of sharing intel and fighting shoulder to shoulder and planning operations together is very special and unique. They are closer than they have ever been before. We take a lot of pride in that.<\/p>\n
I think the results of the military operation were very significant. We managed to cause serious damage and to take Iran back years. We just hope any agreement will secure what everyone wants, which is Iran not having nuclear weapons in the future and cutting the malicious ties to Iran and its proxies in the region.<\/p>\n
JHV: You\u2019ve been here five years. Do you consider yourself a Texan or an honorary Texan for life?
LINK-RAVIV: My kids all say, \u2018Y\u2019all,\u2019 so I think that is the badge of honor.<\/p>\n
JHV: What is the most Houston thing you will take away from this job?
LINK-RAVIV: I think kindness. Texans and Houstonians have such great Southern hospitality, warmth and kindness. I hope some of it rubbed off on me and I go back to Israel more of a kind person than I came.<\/p>\n
JHV: What will you miss most of Houston?
LINK-RAVIV: Not the weather, I will tell you that! I will miss the people most. I will miss the warm embrace from the Houston Jewish community.<\/p>\n
We compare notes with other consulates and other embassies. I won\u2019t say anything negative about other places, but I will say I am very lucky with my experiences in Houston. I express my deep gratitude to the Jewish community of Houston for being such an amazing partner.<\/p>\n
JHV: What\u2019s next for you and your family?
LINK-RAVIV: As a career diplomat, I will be going back to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. I will be taking a position there, hopefully involved in one of the strategic issues.<\/p>\n
JHV: Do you see yourself returning to the U.S. as a diplomat anytime soon?
LINK-RAVIV: Our oldest child is 16, so in a couple of years he will be joining the IDF. Two years after that, his brother will be joining, and two years after that, his sister. So, I don\u2019t see us wanting to leave a Lone Soldier in Israel. We are all a bit in denial.<\/p>\n
Our kids were sad when we came, and now they are sad because they don\u2019t want to go. That is a good sign. They are having a good time and succeeded with great schools and great friends. They got to do the whole Houston and Texas experience. We are excited to go home because home is home, but we will definitely miss Houston. <\/p>\n
JHV: What advice would you have for the next consul general?
LINK-RAVIV: Invest in relationships, open your heart and immerse in the experience because, at the end of the day, that is what we do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israeli Consul General to the Southwest Livia Link-Raviv will be leaving Houston this summer, after serving the Texas,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[9953,54241,37,13827,54240,17704,54239,18317,12180],"class_list":["post-178099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-houston","tag-houston-synagogues","tag-israel","tag-jewish","tag-jewish-herald-voice","tag-jewish-news","tag-jhv","tag-newspaper","tag-texas"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116814965815663110","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}