Former Australian Labor
Party Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, this week released a 500 page book
titled "Diary of a Foreign Minister" depicting his activities in office
from March 2012 to September 2013. It includes a vicious attack on the
Jewish communal leadership, charging it with disproportionate influence
on government. The criticism is reminiscent of the notorious Stephen
Walt and John Mearsheimer book on the Jewish lobby in America.
For the sake of full
disclosure, prior to my aliyah, I was head of the Australian Jewish
community for three terms. My brother, Mark Leibler, presides over the
Australia-Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), which is the
Australian equivalent of AIPAC. Currently he is indisputably considered
the most influential Jewish personality in the country.
Carr accuses former
Prime Minister Julia Gillard of being controlled by the Jewish lobby and
"subcontracting our foreign policy to party donors," denouncing the
alleged power of pro-Israel lobbyists as "unhealthy." He also condemns
Jewish leaders for promoting "an extreme right-wing rather than a
tolerant liberal Israeli view" and seeking to "win on everything."
He singles out AIJAC
Chairman Mark Leibler, accusing him of employing a "how dare you" tone
in relation to Australian votes at the U.N. "Why can’t he and the lobby
understand that their 'take no prisoners approach' creates immense
harm?" asks Carr.
He also refers to the
two former Gillard government Jewish ministers, Mark Dreyfus, who served
as Attorney General and Michael Danby, chairman of the Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, as representatives of the pro-Israel
"falafel faction."
To its credit, the
Jewish leadership displayed a united front and Leibler, its principal
spokesman, issued a powerful but dignified response to this bigoted
outburst.
He dismissed as a
"figment of the imagination," Carr’s allegations that the Jewish lobby
had intimidated or ever communicated to him or other politicians in
anything other than a respectful manner. Leibler pointed out that in his
various meetings with the foreign minister, despite legitimate
differences, Carr (in the presence of witnesses) had actually
complimented him on the manner in which he presented his viewpoint.
Leibler was outraged
with Carr’s "disingenuous" allegation that the Jewish lobby represented
an extreme right-wing viewpoint on Israel. He pointed out that, as in
Israel, there are differences of opinion in the Jewish community on
issues such as ongoing construction in areas outside Jerusalem and the
major settlement blocs. But beyond insisting that the settlement issue
was not the core of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, AIJAC consistently
avoided adopting a position on these matters. It was strongly supportive
of a negotiated two-state solution, which hardly warranted being
defined as "extreme right-wing."
When Leibler was
challenged by the media as to whether the pro-Israeli lobby exerted
undue influence on political leaders, he expressed pride that those
promoting the case for Israel had done so in an able and persuasive
manner. He stated that it reflected the good standing of the community
that, with a few notable exceptions, the Jewish leadership was granted
ready access for consultations with the heads of successive governments
on matters of Jewish concern including Israel.
However, he stressed
that senior politicians, including prime ministers with whom he and
other Jewish leaders had canvassed, had minds of their own and it was
outrageous to suggest that they were bribed or improperly influenced by
the Jewish lobby. He also noted that the right to lobby or promote
independent views was a major component of any democracy and many other
lobbies canvass support for what they consider to be important.
Carr insists that he
was not anti-Israeli, pointing out that "for years, I was president of
Labor Friends of Israel. I wrote a book 'My Reading Life' in which I
recommend the book on an Auschwitz survivor [Primo Levi] as the most
important of the last hundred years."
Indeed, Carr was once
considered a close friend of the Jewish community. Yet as an Australian
media commentator noted this week, he became "the leader of
pro-Palestinian opinion in Labor" reflecting "the surging Muslim
population in Western Sydney…Carr’s factional home is now
pro-Palestinian because electoral arithmetic demands it."
This already surfaced
in 2003 when, as premier of the state of New South Wales he dismayed the
Jewish community by presenting the Sydney peace prize to Palestinian
political activist, Hanan Ashrawi, notorious for her rabid demonization
of Israel.
He visited Israel last
August and I hosted a dinner party in his honor, inviting a number of
senior politicians and journalists. There was frank exchange on many
issues and Carr sought to impress us that he was fervently pro-Israel.
At his request, he returned to my home the following day because he
wished to discuss a number of books in my library concerning the
Holocaust and Primo Levi. On that occasion he expressed highly
complementary remarks about my brother’s role in promoting the case for
Israel.
Yet, immediately on his
return home, he dispatched a delegation to Iran to solicit votes for
Australia’s U.N. Security Council candidature and gave undertakings to
Arab and Third World countries that he would alter Australia’s long
standing support of Israel in return for their votes at the U.N.
Subsequently, he
engineered cabinet support to overrule the instructions of Prime
Minister Julia Gillard and Australia abstained in lieu of voting against
the resolution recognizing the Palestinians as an observer state. He
bluntly stated, "I don’t apologize for the fact that Australia has
interests in the Arab world. If we had voted no, that would have been a
body blow to our interests in over 20 countries. The truth is they all
see this as a bedrock issue."
Carr also
demonstratively hauled over the coals Yuval Rotem, then Israel’s
ambassador to Australia (whom he refers to in his book as "the cunning
Yuval") for the Israeli government decision to continue building homes
in the Jewish suburbs of east Jerusalem and adjacent areas.
There is little doubt
that whilst Carr’s hoary accusations of a Jewish cabal controlling the
government will please and possibly embolden anti-Israeli elements and
anti-Semites, it will have marginal impact on the Jewish community.
Indeed, the current
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his Liberal government are shaping up to
being as friendly to Israel as Stephen Harper and his Canadian
government. And despite the former foreign minister’s hostility, the new
Labor leader of the opposition Bill Shorten, in a recent address to the
Australian Zionist Federation, vigorously sought to mend relations with
the Jewish community. In addition, the former Labor Prime Minister
Julia Gillard last week again visited Israel. In fact the long standing
bi-partisan friendship towards Israel which has, with few exceptions,
prevailed since the creation of the Jewish state, has now largely been
restored.
That a dominant
proportion of the Jewish community (currently estimated at approximately
120,000) are the offspring of Holocaust survivors has intensified the
community’s passionate Zionist orientation.
This in turn, has led
to the emergence of leaders who have no hesitation in taking up
assertive but responsible positions on matters of Jewish concern and on
behalf of Israel, as and when appropriate. Their dedication undoubtedly
contributed towards persuading successive governments to appreciate the
case for Israel. Indeed, Australia could serve as a role model for
leaders in other Diaspora Jewish communities.
The writer’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com. He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com.
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