AIJAC/Rambam Programs/2009

AIJAC/Rambam Programs/2009
Membership	•  Julia Gillard •  Guy Barnett •  George Brandis •  Peter Costello •  Mark Dreyfus •  Christopher Pyne •  Warren Mundine •  Allan Howe •  Helen Polley •  Julie Bishop •  Bruce Bilson •  Simon Birmingham •  Louise Markus •  Scott Ryan •  Jay Weatherill •  Michelle Ainsworth •  Peter Hartcher •  Connie Levett •  Nick Tabakoff •  Paul Howes
A junket "fact-finding trip" to Israel for a large number of selected Australian journalists, politicians, political advisers, government officials, trade union officials, student leaders, and academics.

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (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 through its Rambam Israel Fellowship Program There are a number of associated programs doing very similar things, not all of them arranged by AIJAC, for example the Australia Israel Leadership Forum, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Journalists Mission, Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce and etc. For practical reasons, these programs are listed here under the heading Rambam Programs.

Participants

The participants are sent from several programs.

Alan Howe, a columnist for the Herald-Sun wrote after his trip how:

The people of Gaza are set to be the first to bomb themselves back to the Stone Age. Serves them right...The problem for Gazans is that a survey after the Israeli action showed that almost half the population believed Hamas had won, that more than half believed acts of terror should continue, and there was a sharp rise in the number who wanted the rocket attacks to continue. The people of Gaza have a right to keep looking over their shoulder. That’s where they are going.

Politicians

Australia Israel Leadership Forum

• Julia Gillard, Deputy PM (leading a 40-strong delegation)
• Senator Guy Barnett, LIB
• Senator George Brandis, LIB
• Peter Costello, LIB, Higgins
• Mark Dreyfus, ALP
• Christopher Pyne

• Warren Mundine, former ALP national president

• Allan Howe, columnist, Herald-Sun

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council

• Helen Polley, ALP, Tas

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council

• Julie Bishop, Shadow Foreign Minister
• Bruce Bilson, LIB
• Senator Simon Birmingham, LIB SA
• Louise Markus, LIB, Greenway
• Senator Scott Ryan LIB VIC

Jewish National Fund (JNF)

South Australia's Minister for Environment & Conservation Jay Weatherill ("Last month... visited the Yatir Forest for the dedication of the South Australia-Israel Friendship Forest." AJN, 1/5/09)

Media NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Journalists Mission

• Michelle Ainsworth, senior producer, Channel 7
• Peter Hartcher, political & international editor, Sydney Morning Herald
• Connie Levett, foreign editor, Sydney Morning Herald
• Nick Tabakoff, associate editor, Daily Telegraph
• According to the NSW JBOD At the Board, Vol 1-2010, the above were "accompanied by 4 colleagues who were guests of AIJAC."

Commerce

Skills 2009 Trade Mission to Israel (September)

• Sponsored by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce and "led by Paul Howes, National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union and other senior business, government, philanthropic and academic executives." (Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Winter 2009)

 

Known members

5 of the 20 of the members already have pages here:

Member	Description
Julie Bishop	Australian former politician.
George Brandis	Going to great lengths to protect deep state as Attorney General
Peter Costello	WEF GLT 1998, IMF, politician, Treasurer of Australia 1996-2007
Julia Gillard	Prime Minister of Australia from 2011 to 2013 who went on'a CIA re-education course'. From 2021 Chair of the Wellcome Trust. Her services to the Israel lobby got her husband a cushy job.
Peter Hartcher	Australian journalist

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