Self-Made Ambassador

Sometimes I think that Israelis cover the land like stars cover the sky. No matter where you are on the planet, you always find at least one, or—as usually happens in my case—he or she will find you.

Many times in the past I’ve been surprised by Israelis coming to the town where I live, knocking on my door or calling me at home just because they’ve heard that I am one of them and I happen to live in this exotic place called Iceland.

The famous Israeli chuzpa plays an important role when it comes to asking favors from a local compatriot. But now, after more than two years on the icy rock, I've learned to welcome these intruders and even enjoy their presence (when it's not too early in the morning).

Every now and then I receive an email from Israel written in pure Icelandic. I am surprised how many Icelandophiles there are in the holy land. How on earth did they teach themselves Icelandic?! I feel kind of embarrassed when I need to ask my wife to translate for me (Google, I think it’s time to add Icelandic to your translation service).

I find myself surprised again when I learn that many of the people who contact me know more about this island than I do, asking me questions I don't really have answers to. Many of them read Iceland Review on daily basis and this is also how most of them found out about my existence.

A few weeks ago I decided to check what kind of presence Iceland has in the Hebrew sphere of the internet. Apart from a few articles about the economic crisis and a few travel tips, pickings are rather slim.

I believe tourism should play a bigger role than the economy when it comes to Iceland being presented to Israel. So I decided that Iceland deserves a proper website in Hebrew that will serve both as a travel guide and a virtual embassy for Israelis who are interested in this place, a website dedicated to Iceland and its wonders.

To this date Israel doesn't have an embassy to Iceland. Israel’s embassy in Norway is also responsible for Icelandic affairs, so something had to be done.

Due to the fact that many people already regard me as the unofficial Israeli ambassador to Iceland, I decided it is up to me to pick up the glove (Iceland’s Israel-born first lady Dorrit Moussaieff probably has too many gloves).

As of last week Iceland has a proper Hebrew presence on the World Wide Web, www.iceland.co.il. I hope it will contribute to the traffic of Israelis tourists coming to discover this land. I am kind of tired of being the only star in the Icelandic skies.

Now, if you happen to be an Israeli or Hebrew speaker who happens to read this and wants to help, feel free to contact me. It’s not easy to be the only guy around to run a whole embassy.

I can't end today's column without mentioning the sad departure of Ronald the clown from the not-so-funny Icelandic stage.

Even though I never really liked him, I’m going to miss him and I hope to meet him again during better circumstances. This is definitely the official stamp to the end of an era.

Published in Iceland Review November 1 2009