AIJAC

AIJAC
Predecessor	•  Australia-Israel Publications •  Australian Institute of Jewish Affairs
Formation	1997
Subpage	•AIJAC/Rambam Programs
Membership	•  Mark Leibler •  Paul Rubenstein •  Colin Rubenstein •  Jeremy Jones

The ' Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) is a lobby group claiming to represent the interests of the Australian Jewish community to government, politicians, media and other community groups

Background

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) was founded in 1997 through the merger of two earlier Jewish organisations: Australia-Israel Publications (AIP) and the Australian Institute of Jewish Affairs (AIJA).

AIP had been established by the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the two peak representative bodies of the Australian Jewish community.

The second organisation, AIJA, had been founded in 1984 by the Melbourne businessmen Isi Leibler, Richard Pratt, and Mark Besen.

Rambam Fellowships

Full article: AIJAC/Rambam Programs

AIJAC arranges a large number of junkets "fact-finding trips" to Israel for selected journalists, politicians, political advisers, government officials, trade union officials, student leaders, and academics thorugh its Rambam Israel Fellowship Program and similar programs.

 

Related Quotations

Page	Quote	Author	Date
Tony Abbott	“In an AIJAC function in 2013. Abbot was asked what his position was on some aspect or other of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. "Oh, my position is whatever Mark [Leibler] and Colin [Rubenstein] is", he answered.”	Tony Abbott	2013
Julia Gillard	“Through the influence of her 'Middle East Advisor', Bruce Wolpe, Gillard had already begun unravelling a number of Australian votes on UN General Assembly resolutions on Palestine in order to appease the far-right Jewish lobby in Melbourne. When I was prime minister and foreign minister, Australia's voting profile on Israel had changed from one of unquestioning compliance with US and Israeli interests, to one which was much more aligned with British voting patterns in the UN. Our votes were still more sympathetic to Israel than those of the rest of Europe. But this was not good enough for Gillard. The far-right Jewish lobby in Melbourne wanted to go back to the good old days of the Howard government. And Gillard wanted to deliver. This would be coordinated through her loyal operative Wolpe to ensure that Australia would once again join the likes of the US, Palau and maybe two or three other Pacific micro-states, in voting against UN General Assembly resolutions that were critical of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. It was no surprise that Gillard would later be awarded, together with Abbott, an honorary doctorate at an Israeli university for her services to the cause. The only problem was that these were not services to Australia's cause. They were services to the Israeli Government's cause under prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his total opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”	Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard	2018
Kevin Rudd	“Rudd attended a dinner on the 3rd of June with Jewish community leaders to repair the strained relationship. According to Rudd, Mark Leibler, leader of AIJAC berated him for committing the "hostile act" of expelling the Israeli diplomat. Rudd told Leibler that it was the second time Israel had used false passports, wherupon Leibler responded "I don't believe you". When Rudd offered a meeting with ASIO chief Richardson, "Leibler still stared at me in disbelief. And then disbelief turned to anger. Apropos of nothing, he said, 'Julia is looking very good in the public eye these days, Prime Minister. She's performing very strongly. She's a great friend of Israel. But you shouldn't be anxious about her, should you, Prime Minister?' It was Leibler at his menacing worst."”	Kevin Rudd	2018
Kevin Rudd	“In his memoirs, Prime Minster Rudd told how in the National Security Committee of the Cabinet after the second Israeli passport incident, Dennis Richardson, chief of ASIO, stated that "unless Australia wished to be seen as a 'soft touch' by the Israelis, we had to act firmly and decisively. Everyone nodded in agreement except Julia Gillard. "I asked her explicitly whether she supported the recommendations. She grunted her assent. I knew for a fact that Julia had been cultivated by the Israeli Lobby in Australia".”	Kevin Rudd	2018

 

Known member

1 of the 4 of the members already have pages here:

Member	Description
Mark Leibler	Tax lawyer who is one of the leaders of the Australian Zionist lobby through the billionaire-funded Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. While "not not well known to most Australians", his influence "far exceeds his public profile", and he has developed and sustained close relationships with senior Australian politicians.

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References

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