Building bridges: Sylvan Adams on cultural diplomacy and peace-building

Sylvan Adams (pictured), widely recognized as a leading philanthropist and a passionate advocate for cultural diplomacy, has dedicated his efforts to fostering peace and understanding across the Middle East. His innovative initiatives, which bridge cultural divides and promote cooperation, have garnered international attention and acclaim. Among his many achievements, Adams’ commitment to peace-building earned him an invitation to the Trump inauguration, highlighting the global impact of his work. In this conversation, Adams reflects on the motivations behind his philanthropy, the challenges and triumphs of cultural diplomacy, and the enduring importance of building bridges in a divided world.

Sylvan, you are considered a pioneer in the field of cultural diplomacy. Would you like to explain a little bit about how you work?

I’m a big believer in grassroots, people to people diplomacy, that creates the conditions for warm interactions between countries, even those without formal relations with Israel.

You also own Israel’s cycling team. How does this team fit into your vision?

Cycling is one of the world’s most popular sports: the Tour de France has a worldwide audience of over two billion television views. My Israel-Premiertech cycling team proudly carries the name ‘Israel’. This, despite not receiving a single shekel of support from our government.

I do this, because as Israel’s “self-appointed ambassador at large”, I feel it is important to show that my country, Israel, is a force for good on this planet, with contributions in fields such as agriculture, technology, climate change, water management, desert science, culture, and yes, even sport, making contributions that are vastly disproportionate to our tiny size. I emigrated from Canada. I wouldn’t have moved to a country less open, tolerant, pluralistic, and democratic, than my native Canada.

When my Israel cycling team is performing well in a big race, the television announcers might mention the word ‘Israel’ 150 times, always in a positive light. This is the way we can bring our good name to the majority of people-I call them the silent majority-who are sympathetic to Israel, despite the hostile media coverage, and the abominable activities of the anti-Israel, antisemitic haters.

As Israel’s “self-appointed ambassador”, this is the image that I am trying to bring to people who don’t know us very well. As mentioned, I do this with the team, which travels around the world carrying our good name, but also via large scale events in Israel, such as bringing the start of the Giro d’Italia to Israel, the French Trophée des champions (featuring Leo Messi, the world’s most famous athlete), and Madonna to the Eurovision song competition held in Tel Aviv.

In commemoration of the tragedy that occurred on Oct 7th, 2023, I plan to hold a commemorative “Nova” concert, on the same site as the place where so many young concert goers were brutally murdered, raped, tortured, and taken hostage, by the evil, barbaric terrorists. My plan is to bring big headliners to help heal the wounds of that terrible day.

It has been reported that your cycling team’s participation in cycling races in theIsrael-Premiertechding in the UAE, helped pave the way, or test the water, for real-world political agreements. Where does this stem from?

My Israel-Premiertech team, raced in the Tour of the Emirates just a few months before the signing of the Abraham Accords. We rode all over the country, with the name ‘Israel’ prominently emblazoned on our jerseys. Not only did we not experience any hostility there, we were warmly greeted. Emirati kids stood in a queue to receive autographs of our riders, and souvenir water bottles decorated with the name ‘Israel’.

I was told by the American peace negotiators that the lack of grass roots hostility to Israel was noted by the Emiratis, which helped create the conditions that led to the signing of the Abraham Accords six months later. As it was an American ceremony, I was privileged to have been one of the only Israelis to have been invited to the White House to witness the signing of the Accords.

You recently donated 100 Million dollars to Ben Gurion University in Israel’s Negev desert. What is the rationale behind such a large donation to one university, and how does it fit into your wider vision?

The October 7th tragedy occurred not far from Be’er Sheva, the capital city of Israel’s Negev desert, where Ben Gurion university is located. As such, investing in the south, bringing back our displaced people, and growing our population there, tells the terrorists, and indeed, the entire world, that the State of Israel will endure. We are here to stay, notwithstanding the genocidal ambitions of the terrorists.

Ben Gurion University is the economic engine of the south. If we are to bring our displaced people back home, and attract new residents to the south, they will need employment, and this is the reason for my large donation to BGU.

You are an outspoken and proud advocate for Israel, even printing business cards stating that you are “Israel’s self-appointed ambassador at large”. How do you explain the growing hostility towards your nation in large swathes of Europe, and what is your solution to improving Israel’s image on the continent?

Even if we didn’t see it, the hatred was clearly always there, and Oct 7th merely exposed it. There were hostile anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations, with Nazi flags, and antisemitic chants (“gas the Jews”) on October 8th, well before Israel went into Gaza to defend our nation and retrieve our people taken hostage. This is part of a 30 year well funded campaign by nefarious foreign forces from Qatar and Iran, and more recently, China, to undermine the standing of Israel and the Jewish people. There are paid foreign operatives operating in all western countries, spreading hatred. The Jews are merely the proverbial “canary in the coal mine”. If we go down, God forbid, they’ll be coming for the rest of you next.

The vast silent majority, I think, understands this, and loathes the tactics of the haters, with their expressions of ‘jihad’ and ‘intifada’. This majority stands with the Jews of Europe, America, and with Israel.

We need to mobilize and fight back in this electronic war of hostile social media. In the meantime, we will continue to stand up proudly for our values, which are the values of western civilization. Indeed, Israel is fighting the war of the entire western world.

We understand you were one of the few Israelis invited to President Trump’s inauguration. If you could have one ask from the new president, what would it be?

When I tell people here that I am from Israel, the immediate response is one of warmth and support. This is the majority to which I have referred above. Given the extensive media coverage of the haters, it is heartwarming to be so welcomed here.

The biggest issue that Israel, and frankly, the entire western alliance faces, is the prospect of a nuclear Iran. We simply cannot allow this fanatical regime to gain military immunity, as they, and their terrorist proxies in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, attack Israeli and western targets. As the Iranians are marching closer and closer to building nuclear bombs, I would implore President Trump to make this a priority, and to join Israel in a campaign, military and economic, that prevents this from happening.

The policy of the Trump administration should be regime change in Iran. Cutting off the head of the terrorist octopus, would lead to the shrinking of its proxy tentacles, and create the conditions for 100 years of peace. The vast majority of Iranians loathe their regime, and have no beef with Israel and the Jews. With Iranian regime change, I could see Israeli peace agreements not only with Iran, but also, with Syria and Lebanon, leading to the same with Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and even the Palestinians. Eventually these countries will line up to sign free trade agreements with us, in order to benefit from the vibrancy of our dynamic Israel technology.

With the incoming Trump administration, I am very optimistic for our future.

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