INTRODUCTION
The rapid development over the past years in the international arena compel Ministries of Foreign Affairs to confront a multitude of complex challenges. Adjustment and adaptation of the Israel Ministry to the diplomatic needs of the twenty-first century and to the significant changes in the Middle East, linked to the peace process, intensifies the importance of human resources as a key factor to meet the challenges of the future, necessitating a serious investment in Human Resources Development.
Training Guidelines
The Bureau for Personnel Training and Development, which was established to ensure both the recruitment and training of new diplomats and the training of the Ministry staff in Israel and abroad, operates according to the following main guidelines:
- Planning of the training objectives as an end-result of the Ministry's fixed and changing objectives, in particular, peace and regional cooperation in the Middle East.
- Ensuring the involvement of the Bureau for Personnel Training and Development in the study processes taking place in the Ministry.
- Mapping and identifying the specific training needs according to job description and learning and work environment needs.
- Developing training programs according to performance needs.
- Emphasizing the self-activated approach, which means less direct training and increasing the ability of the diplomat for self-study.
- Regular evaluation of training effectiveness.
- Utilizing advanced methods of training.
CADET COURSE
The State Public Service Commission Tender for diplomatic posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the principal mechanism for recruiting diplomats into the Foreign Service.
The number of recruits is based on the retirement forecast of the Ministry's employees on the one hand and the deployment forecast of missions worldwide on the other.
The target recruits are Israeli citizens, graduates of Economics, Middle East Studies, International Relations and Public Administration. In addition to these, recruitment includes the full gamut of other academic fields in order to answer the need for 'generalists'.
- The aims of the cadet course are:
- Training the young diplomats to meet the demands of the first mission abroad, usually serving in small missions in developing countries.
- Planting the seeds for the development of a full diplomatic career.
- Admission requirements include a full university education (BA), command of languages and passing of the cadet tender examinations. The selection process includes three stages: written examinations, assessment centers and an interview before a public committee.
- The training lasts three to five years (as stated in the tender) and consists of three stages.
- An intensive theoretical and academic part lasting six months, in which the cadets acquire knowledge in fields relevant to Israeli diplomacy, while obtaining and polishing skills and abilities of the trade, all this through lectures, reading, tours, and practice.
- The second part involves on-the-job training in various departments of the ministry.
- The third stage consists of working in Israeli missions abroad, in one of the aforementioned posts.
- Cadet training includes instruction in foreign languages, in information technology, and the acquisition basic diplomatic skills such as media presentations, public speaking, effective written communication, etc.
- Command of the Hebrew language is assumed and is needed for the examination process as well as for the training and the job itself.
The tender for the next course for Foreign Ministry recruits will be published in November 2007 in all major daily papers in Israel, and in the internet site of the Civil Service Commission, the government body in charge of recruitment of personnel of government offices.
TRAINING OF THE MINISTRY EMPLOYEES
The training programs of the general staff are based on the continuous identification and mapping of the Ministry's needs. These include:
Professional Courses
The ministry comprises dozens of professional units dealing in a wide variety of subjects. In light of these needs, the Training Unit plans and develops a multitude of individualized study programs in conjunction with universities and professional colleges.
Advanced and Senior Courses
During his professional career, the diplomat will encounter two significant courses in additional to previously mentioned programs:
- Advanced Course
Designated for First Secretaries/Counsellors.
This course covers 3 subjects:
- Economics
- Management
- Multilateral Diplomacy
- Senior Course
Designated for Ministers/Counsellors, usually Directors of Divisions. This course includes the above subjects at a higher level.
Forum of Division Directors
This Forum, comprising close to 80 Directors of Divisions, meets regularly to discuss relevant current topics. The aim is to stimulate interdisciplinary thinking and teamwork.
Enrichment Courses
In addition to the above formal study frameworks, the Training Unit sees the importance of expanding the diplomat's horizons in diverse subjects such as art, music, religions and cultures.
These courses are available to all ministry employees according to their choice.
Courses Abroad
Each year diplomats are sent from the Ministry and from the missions for courses abroad offered by various agencies, institutions and governments like the U.N., and the European Union.
The Training Unit also encourages excelling diplomats to study in programs offered by universities such as Harvard.
FORMAL EDUCATION
The Training Unit sees as its obligation the encouragement of employees to study, and has allocated appropriate funds for this purpose. This includes the completion of secondary education as well as academic education at all levels.
In 1994 the Ministry, together with the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, initiated a postgraduate program in Diplomacy in the School for International Relations.
Participation in this program is highly encouraged.
Language Study
The knowledge and command of foreign languages is a cardinal skill for every diplomat. Consequently, the Training Unit spends considerable time and resources addressing this vital need.
Over 300 ministry staff study a range of close to 50 languages annually. The Ministry has contracted a major language training institution for this purpose.
The various target audiences are:
- Employees and their families prior to overseas postings
individually in their homes.
- Employees in Israel
in groups and courses at the work place.
- Cadets
as part of the training program.
- Children of Diplomats after repatriation
as language maintenance
TRAINING PRIOR TO ASSIGNMENT ABROAD
Courses for assignees posted abroad are conducted annually before the summer. Tens of employees at different ranks and positions are posted to the four corners of the globe.
The complex challenge is to provide this group of employees with a range and scope of relevant courses prior to their taking up their positions abroad.
These include:
- Heads of Missions (and Ministers)
The purpose is to update the diplomat on current issues and to refresh perennial subjects. The course includes lectures and discussions on general subjects, as well as pinpointed issues of Embassy functions. Tours inside Israel enhance the diplomats' updated understanding of national issues.
- Individual Instruction
In addition to the group training, each of these diplomats tailors his own individualized training program under the guidance of the Training Unit. These include tours and meetings with all the factors inside and outside the Ministry, relevant to his new posting.
Training for other Embassy Officers
This very diversified group, including administration officers, press and cultural attachéa, political officers, etc., will participate in a range of training programs answering their needs. Like the heads of missions, these too will study in groups and individually, and will attend lectures and tours as well as receive individualized treatment.
Both groups will receive intensive language training immediately upon assignment.
TRAINING IN THE MISSIONS
The view of the Training Unit is that learning does not end at the moment of assignment.This is particularly true as far as language learning is concerned but equally true for other subjects. The criteria are relevance and need. It is equally true for the diplomats and the local employees.
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
The Training Unit goes to great lengths to develop relations with institutions in Israel and abroad in order to learn from their experience and contribute from experience gained by the Israeli Ministry. This cooperation ensures mutual enrichment and contributes to the promotion of the training objectives.
These include:
- The International Forum of Heads of Diplomatic Academies
The Bureau for Personnel Training and Development participates wholeheartedly in this important forum based in Vienna in order to discuss and review challenges facing foreign ministry training of personnel worldwide.
- Exchange Delegations
Carried out once a year on the basis of reciprocity, this program gives Junior Diplomats an opportunity to be exposed to new cultures and their diplomatic peers.
- Courses for Junior Diplomats
Following the 1995 Directors General of MFA International Convention, organized by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in the belief that the intensive experience of Israel's diplomacy should be shared with the ministries of foreign affairs of other countries, the subdepartment has undertaken to run seminars for leading Junior Diplomats.
A series of such seminars has taken place in recent years in which dozens of diplomats, mainly from Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern and Central Europe have participated.
These seminars, entitled "Changes in Diplomacy toward the 21st Century" have dealt with three main subjects: Israel, the Middle East, and issues pertaining to the diplomatic profession.