Presidents present at president’s conference
AS international statesmen and stars sought to shape the future at the Israeli Presidential Conference last week, senior Jewish community leaders from Australia added their voice to the debates and discussions.
AS international statesmen and stars sought to shape the future at the Israeli Presidential Conference last week, senior Jewish community leaders from Australia added their voice to the debates and discussions.
Rubbing shoulders with the likes of Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Barbra Streisand and Robert De Niro, Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Danny Lamm and Zionist Federation of Australia president Philip Chester joined the throng at the annual gathering convened by Shimon Peres.
Lamm, who spoke on a panel about whether Israel was too Jewish or not Jewish enough, argued that saying Israel was “too Jewish” was akin to saying France was “too French”.
Outlining his input to the debate, Lamm told The AJN “Australia doesn’t require a Jewish identity, its culture, however, is very much based on Judeo-Christian values. Furthermore, the Jewish community is well-respected and quite visible.”
Lamm also argued that with intermarriage on the rise within the Diaspora, Jewish continuity is reliant upon Israel to provide a path into the future,
“Jewish education is lacking in Israel’s non-religious school system, often generating graduates ignorant in Judaism, in our traditions and even the State of Israel’s modern history,” Lamm said. “But our Jewish future is dependent on what leadership emanates from Israel. Israel must remain the centre of Jewish life and we must bridges these gaps in Israeli society.”
Chester, who spoke on a panel that discussed the 20 per cent of the Jewish community who live outside Israel and the US, said he was pleased to speak about Australian Jewry’s visibility and achievements.
“The strength of the Australian Jewish community from both a Jewish and Zionist perspective was well-recognised,” Chester said.
“Relative to many other communities we’re doing well, but there are of course still many serious challenges.
“The other speakers represented the Latin American and French and Russian-speaking communities and they felt that their particular communities were struggling with assimilation and disaffection towards Jewish and Israeli causes.”
Reflecting on the relevance of the conference as a whole, Chester said, “That so many important academics, politicians and thinkers were honoured to come to Israel and laud Israeli creativity, ingenuity and hard work is the perfect foil to those who want to boycott and delegitimise Israel.”
ALEXANDRA ROACH
Panelists (from left) Pierre Besnainou of France, Judit Bokser Liwerant of Mexico, ZFA president Philip Chester, Alan Hoffmann of Israel and Alexander Levin of Ukraine at the Israeli Presidential Conference last week.
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