ECAJ on Plibersek: Forgive and forget

THE Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) has congratulated new Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on his elevation to the leadership of the Labor Party and said it is satisfied with the appointment of Tanya Plibersek as deputy leader despite comments in 2002 labelling Israel a “rogue state” and then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a war criminal.

ECAJ president Danny Lamm said she had since apologised for the remarks and now held views that were “much more balanced and better informed”.

In a 2011 interview Plibersek said she had “spoken injudiciously” and declared her support for a two-state solution.

“She has also developed friendly relations with the Jewish community,” Lamm said.

“ECAJ representatives have met with Tanya Plibersek on several occasions, most recently in Sydney last week. The meeting discussed the differences of opinion we had had with the former government, but was friendly and constructive.”

Shorten on Sunday defeated Anthony Albanese to be the first Labor leader elected under the party’s new system, which gives the caucus and wider membership equal weight in deciding their leader.

In a letter to Shorten, ECAJ president Danny Lamm and executive director Peter Wertheim thanked the new Opposition Leader for his “enduring friendship” and support and wished him well in the job ahead.

“Bill Shorten is a long-standing and proven friend of Israel, with a genuine depth of understanding of the challenges facing it and the wider Middle East,” they told The AJN.

“We will be working with him to try to reverse some of the poorly considered statements about Israel that were made in the name of the previous government.”

Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) executive director Colin Rubenstein said he was also looking forward to working with Shorten and his shadow cabinet.

“Bill Shorten’s record of principled support for Israel is matched only by his warm, genuine friendship with the Jewish community here in Australia,” he said.

AIJAC national chairman Mark Leibler added: “Bill Shorten embodies the traditional core values of the Labor party, and his solid support for Israel reflects that. Mr Shorten knows, as we do, that bipartisan support for Israel is an integral part of the fabric of our country’s foreign policy.”

GARETH NARUNSKY

Bill Shorten and wife Chloe with Israeli President Shimon Peres.