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DECEMBER 31 • 2020
Abraham Ambassadors
a peace process,” Fischer, 74, who arrived in Morocco in January of this year, said in an interview. “We weren’t anticipating COVID either. This is where the skills you’ve learned from a lifetime in business and how to respond to surprises come in handy.” Fischer owns the Suburban Collection of automotive dealerships, located mainly in Southeast Michigan. In early March, a delegation of about 40 touring congregants and clergy from Temple Israel of West Bloomfield found themselves nearly stranded in Morocco as worries over COVID mounted. Ambassador Fischer, who is not Jewish, and the embassy staff were able to facilitate their return home just as air travel was shutting down.
Two local businessmen, serving as diplomats in Arab nations, play role in Middle East peace accords. DORON LEVIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER U.S. Ambassador to UAE John Rakolta Jr.
U.S. Ambassador to Morocco David Fischer and his wife, Jennifer
PHOTOS COURTESY STATE DEPT.
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n the spring of 2018, David Fischer and John Rakolta Jr. were presidential nominees, awaiting Congressional approval before assuming their posts as U.S. ambassadors, respectively, to Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. Neither of the two financial backers of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, both of whom are Oakland County businessmen and longtime GOP partisans, could foresee how relatively short their diplomatic postings would be — due to the many months of partisan bickering that delayed their confirmation by the Senate, capped by Trump’s electoral defeat. But what their tenures lacked in duration, they made up for in significance. Neither ambassador had reason to anticipate the remarkable events that would unfold on their watch: the diplomatic breakthrough and astonishing, unexpected official warming of relations between Israel and some Arab nations, brokered by the U.S. Both ambassadors served as go-betweens in the delicate negotiations leading to the diplomatic breakthrough. Under the auspices of President Trump, the Abraham Accords in September normalized relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain; they were followed shortly by Sudan’s recognition of Israel. The Kingdom of Morocco agreed two months later to
open diplomatic relations with the Jewish state toward establishing full recognition. Some experts predict that Saudi Arabia may be next. “From Morocco’s historical tradition of protecting its Jewish minority,” Fischer said on Dec. 14, “the signing of the Marrakech Declaration to yesterday’s agreement —
[King Mohamed VI] sets an example to the region and the world.” Simultaneously, Trump signed a proclamation recognizing Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara, where dissidents have campaigned to break away from the kingdom. “We didn’t come here expecting to participate in
‘STIMULATING ASSIGNMENT’ John Rakolta Jr., 73, attended Brother Rice High School in Birmingham and graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee. Until his nomination, he served as CEO of Walbridge, a construction company started by his father and based in Detroit. As a young man struck by Israel’s lightning victory in the Six-Day War, Rakolta wondered why Middle East peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors proved elusive. Later on, as he learned more about festering grievances, it appeared unreasonable to him that “the Palestinians and the Israelis couldn’t just sit down and do what’s best for their
