Much has changed in Israel in the past few weeks, whilst many things remain the same. Gidon Sa’ar has tried to rescue his political career by rejoining the Netanyahu government. Whether it will work for him or not, time will tell, but it has certainly worked for Prime Minister Netanyahu, enlarging his coalition and providing […]

Theodore Herzl was born in Hungary in 1860 and moved to Paris in 1891, from where he reported for the Viennese newspaper, Neue Freie Presse. It was there that three years later, he witnessed the deep antisemitism and hypocrisy of the French people and the French government, in the infamous Dreyfus Affair. Sadly, if he […]

The end of the Golden Age for Australian Jewry? Maybe………. Some serious people claim it is. I am not exactly sure when the Golden Age was during my life time. The vicious anti-Israel resolutions and sometimes violence on campuses in the 1970’s? The 15 years we endured United Nations resolution 3379 that equated Zionism with […]

Nobody gives a speech like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His address to the US Congress was exceptional. High on rhetoric and emotion and largely well received. Notwithstanding some notable absentees, it was a tour de force. While his 2015 address to Congress during the tenure of US President Barack Obama was seen as partisan […]

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is a man under huge pressure on multiple fronts. Some of his own making and some not. Firstly, defending Israel against the genocidal intent of Iran and its proxies. Anyone who was hesitant about the necessity of operating in Rafah and securing the so called ‘Philadelphi Corridor,’ stretching 14 km along […]

We have been through turbulent times before and each period, for those who experienced it themselves, left deep imprints. Just some examples. Following the Yom Kippur war in 1973, university campuses in Australia became uncomfortable and dangerous places for Jewish students. The Australian Union of Students proposed and promoted anti-Israel resolutions cloaked in language that […]

To paraphrase Micah Goodman, the bind that Israel is in, is that to ensure its long-term existence, Israel needs to be loved by the West and yet, simultaneously, feared by its enemies in the Middle East.   Both are required.   When Israel is attacked, sympathy is with it.   We may have forgotten already, […]

I was really hoping that on International Women’s Day recently, some of the good friends of our community would use the opportunity to condemn the rape and sexual mutilation of young and old, that took place on 7 October and which continues to be used as a weapon of humiliation and intimidation and dehumanisation, on […]

The question we need to address at some point is, how does the narrative get so upended that history, facts and logic are simply tossed aside? Especially in regards to two of the major themes today. Yes, antisemitism plays a large role. And, yes, to some lesser degree, the Israeli government’s public relations efforts are […]

At its core, Zionism is all about Jewish self-determination. While we all parrot those words, at the same time, we rarely fully act accordingly. Yes, there are many reasons over the decades and acutely now, of why – Israel is at war, is too distracted, periods of disunity and many other valid considerations. However, it […]

As Israel battles to remove the threat of barbarism and depravity to its citizens, it beggars belief to see what is going on in the world. Western democracies stand strongly with Israel when it is being attacked. However, once Israel actually defends itself, support waivers. There is a total disconnect in logic between people who […]

As we approach the 75th anniversary of the State of Israel’s reestablishment, there will be much reflection on the national rebirth of the Jewish people. This, the third Jewish commonwealth, as with the previous two, is on the very same piece of land that Jews have called ‘home’ for millennia. The Jewish people have a […]