President Herzog meets Australia delegation, family of injured Australian lone soldier

The father of a wounded lone soldier from Australia was a member of a solidarity delegation from down under that met on Tuesday with President Isaac Herzog.

The president was very interested in the soldier’s condition and spent several minutes talking to the father at the end of the meeting with the delegation.

Having visited Australia when he was chairman of the Jewish Agency, Herzog was interested to know how Australians, and Australian Jewry in particular, had reacted to the massacre by Hamas.

Australians, Australian Jewry reaction to Hamas massacre

Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler, who led the delegation together with United Israel Appeal President Esther Frenkiel, told him that the Jewish community had been traumatized, and that totally assimilated Jews who were not affiliated with anything Jewish, have now discovered their Jewish identities, are dismayed by what Israel is suffering, keep calling him and want to be involved.

Frenkiel said that UIA had launched an emergency appeal, almost immediately after the attack, and people who had previously refused to donate to the regular appeal, because they did not approve of Israel’s politics, were now turning up in droves to give money.

So far, the amount raised totals $30 million, but she was confident that there will be much more. All such funds are being used solely to help the destroyed communities of the South. “The feeling of depression in Israel is understandable. But we are feeling it at home,” she said.

Leibler said that $3m. had been donated at one particular function.

As for non-Jews, “people whom we thought were our friends have joined the pro-Palestine campaign,” he said, though the majority of Australians are pro-Israel.

David Ossip, chairman of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, said that what is happening in Australia with pro-Palestinian rallies and campaigns is a wake-up call for the security of the Jewish community.

Gabe Max, the chairman of the Australian Zionist Youth Council, said that the situation is not as bad as in America and that Melbourne’s Monash University is very understanding and tries to make Jewish students feel comfortable.

Toward the conclusion of the meeting, Herzog said: “You are far away, but your hearts are with our hearts. The war shows that Israel and world Jewry are one heart. We are facing the greatest challenge that Israel has ever faced. Hamas is challenging the whole paradigm of world civilization. The world needs more clarity.”