Australia, Israel and the Community of Nations

Federal Labor Member of Parliament Mark Dreyfus has addressed the 74th Annual Assembly of the Zionist Council of Victoria in Melbourne on Australia, Israel and the Community of Nations.

I am going to start with something that you have heard before. And that is that the Government of Australia supports the State of Israel, and that we do so one hundred percent.

Since well before the birth of the modern State of Israel Australia has had deep ties with the Zionist dream. Whether it was the bonds of personal friendship forged between Australian Diggers stationed in British Mandate Palestine and the Zionist halutzim of the kibbutz movement, or the compassion that Australians from all walks of life felt for the victims of the Shoah, Australians have long felt a tie of kinship with Israel that transcends the cynical calculus of politics.

Australia is not merely an ally of Israel. Australia is a friend.

http://www.jwire.com.au/news/australia-israel-and-the-community-of-nations/29094