AIJAC
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council is an Australian advocacy group. It describes itself as "the premier public affairs organisation for the Australian Jewish community." The organisation is directed by Colin Rubenstein, who was previously a political science lecturer at Monash University. AIJAC has office locations in Melbourne and Sydney. AIJAC is formally associated with the American Jewish Committee.
History
Origins
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council was founded in 1997 through the merger of two earlier Jewish organisations: Australia-Israel Publications and the Australian Institute of Jewish Affairs. The Melbourne-based Australia-Israel Publications had been founded in 1974 by Robert Zablud and Isador Magid to present pro-Israel perspectives in the media and political debate through its monthly journal, the Australia-Israel Review. AIP had been established by the Zionist Federation of Australia and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the two peak representative bodies of the Australian Jewish community, to educate the Australian public about the Middle East in response to growing public criticism of Israel. Under the leadership of Magid and later Mark Leibler, AIP became the best resourced Australian Jewish organisation. During the 1980s, the organisation expanded with the establishment of full-time southern and northern directors in 1982 and of a director of public affairs in 1987.The second organisation, AIJA, had been founded in 1984 by the Melbourne businessmen Isi Leibler, Richard Pratt, and Mark Besen. AIJA's purpose was to conduct and encourage research into issues of concern for the Australian Jewish community. AIJA's activities have also included organising several key conferences relating to antisemitism, Jewish education and the National Outlook Conferences, as well as producing research studies on various topics. In 1984, AIJA organised an international conference on antisemitism that hosted several prominent guests including Australian Chief Rabbi Sir Immanuel Jakobovits, Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, Special Counsel to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Allan Gerson, Israeli academics Itamar Rabinovich and R.J. Zwi Werblowsky, and B'nai B'rith lobbyist William Korey. During its history, AIJA attracted more funding from major businessmen and philanthropists than ECAJ.
After Isi Leibler settled in Israel in 1995, he came to believe that the Jewish community needed a more effective advocacy group. Following negotiations, AIP and AIJA merged in 1997 to form AIJAC, which became the main Jewish public advocacy group in Australia.
1990s
In May 1997, AIJAC and the American Jewish Committee established institutional ties to collaborate on key Jewish communal and international policy issues in the Asia-Pacific region. In 1999, AIJAC and the AJC produced a detailed research study called Islam in Asia: Changing Political Realities, which examined the role of Islam in Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, and southern Thailand. AIJAC and AJC regarded the growth of Islamic extremism in Asia as a concern for Australian Jews, the wider Australian population, and Israel and have advocated a "peaceful, stable, democratic, and prosperous Southeast Asia".In 1998, AIJAC controversially published the far right One Nation party's secret membership list as part of its campaign against far right groups. During the 1998 Queensland state election, AIJAC national chairman Mark Leibler and national policy chairman Colin Rubenstein joined forces with other Australian Jewish organisations including ECAJ, the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission, and the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies in lobbying Prime Minister John Howard into disavowing any preference deals with One Nation.
2000s
In January 2000, AIJAC strongly campaigned against controversial military historian and Holocaust denier David Irving's tour of Australia. AIJAC's National Chairman Mark Leibler also criticised the Herald Sun newspaper for commissioning a poll asking people whether they "agreed with historian David Irving's views on the Holocaust"; describing it as offensive to Melbourne's Holocaust survivors and arguing that newspaper's actions legitimised the claims of Holocaust deniers.In May 2000, AIJAC condemned the Australian Government's decision to vote in favour of two World Bank loans to Iran worth US$232 million; with AIJAC's Executive Director Rubenstein claiming that the loans legitimised the Iranian "regime's" religious discrimination, terrorism, and human rights violation. AIJAC's opposition to the Iranian loans was also influenced by the Iranian government's trial and conviction of ten Iranian Jews on fabricated charges of spying for the US and Israel. The Iranian loans were also opposed by the United States, Canadian, and French governments. Historically, AIJAC has urged the Australian Government to exert pressure and limit relations with Iran due to its opposition to the current regime.
In December 2000, AIJAC supported the Victorian Government's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act; arguing that free speech had to be balanced with protection from harassment, vilification, incitement to violence, and hate speech. In 2001, AIJAC and most of the Australian Jewish community praised Prime Minister John Howard for condemning the World Conference against Racism 2001 in Durban in September 2001 and praised Australian efforts to moderate the conference's proceedings.
Following the September 11 attacks, AIJAC supported the United States-led coalition's war on terror and military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. AIJAC also campaigned in favour of Australian involvement in the Iraq War. AIJAC and its institutional partner, the American Jewish Committee, were also concerned by the growth of Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia. Following the 2002 Bali bombings, AIJAC exposed the Australian links of Ramzi Yousef, one of the instigators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and established close links with moderate Southeast Asian leaders such as Indonesian President and Nahdatul Ulama leader Abdurrahman Wahid.
In August 2003, AIJAC joined forces with several other Australian Jewish organisations and media including Australian Jewish News, the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and the Zionist Federation of Australia in opposing the Sydney Peace Foundation's decision to award Palestinian intellectual and PLO official Dr. Hanan Ashrawi the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize. AIJAC published a fact sheet criticising Ashrawi for her alleged anti-Israel rhetoric and extremist views. Despite intense lobbying from Jewish groups and media, the Sydney Peace Foundation refused to rescind Ashrawi's prize. On 6 November 2003, New South Wales Premier Bob Carr awarded Ashrawi the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize during a public ceremony at the New South Wales Parliament. Baruch Kimmerling, a sociologist from the Hebrew University, wrote, "As an Israeli, as a Jew and as an academic I am deeply sorry and ashamed that members of the Australian Jewish community are acting against this rightful nomination."
In 2005, AIJAC praised Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, claiming that it proved Israel's commitment to peace. AIJAC and most Australian Jewish groups supported the withdrawal from Gaza. AIJAC National Chairman Mark Leibler disagreed with the State Zionist Council of Victoria president Dr Danny Lamm and the State Zionist Council of New South Wales' president Brian Levitan's opposition to the disengagement from Gaza, stating that communal leaders should not express views that "are at odds with the views of the constituency". At the same time, Leibler defended the right to protest by elements of the Jewish community opposed to the Gaza disengagement. AIJAC analyst Ted Lapkin claimed that Hamas's electoral success during the 2006 Palestinian legislative election reflected a long record of Palestinians "spurning opportunities for peace".
2010s
In 2016, AIJAC accused then senator Nick Xenophon of being "highly and one-sidedly critical of Israel" during his time in the Australian Senate. The organisation also criticised the Australian Greens for trying to make Israel the "sole-aggressor" against Palestine.In 2018, AIJAC lodged a complaint against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation regarding an online article which claimed that Hamas was declared a terrorist organisation because of it activities against Israeli "occupation" of Palestine. The ABC complaints unit agreed with AIJAC that Hamas's status was not, according to the Australian Government, based on any occupation. Dr. Rubenstein said:
2020s
In October 2022, AIJAC joined Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton, the Zionist Federation of Australia and Executive Council of Australian Jewry in criticising the Albanese government's decision to reverse the Morrison government's recognition of Jerusalem as the Australian Jewish community. In November 2022 Australian Jewish journalist Antony Loewenstein criticised AIJAC and the ECAJ for supporting Israel's military occupation of the Palestinians.On 29 July 2024, Dutton arrived in Israel for a three-day visit reimbursed by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. He met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.