It was supposed to be a routine ceremony, just another one of those events that appear on the official calendar of the President’s House. People give speeches and applaud, someone receives a trophy or certificate, and the guests share in the excitement of participating in some official event or other. Then everyone goes back home to get on with their day-to-day business.
But just a few weeks ago, SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum, who was selected to receive this year’s Outstanding Exporter Award from the president, turned one such ceremony into a thought-provoking occasion and the subject of considerable discussion and debate.
After asking to say a few words, he took the microphone, and looked President Shimon Peres straight in the eyes. “I am very proud to receive this prize and to raise the flag of Israel in 45 countries around the world. But it is precisely because of this commitment that I must tell you, Mr. President, about something that raised a question for me — a question that I consider far more important than industry or exports. The question, which I am asking here today, is how we relate to each other as human beings.” A stunned silence filled the hall. Someone had just broken all the rules of protocol.
A few days later, in an interview with Al-Monitor, Daniel Birnbaum (whose name is similar to that of another Israeli known for shattering conventions, the conductor Daniel Barenboim) spoke about what it was that caused him to deviate from the old, established rules of form.
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