The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) has facilitated three roundtable discussions for Australian policy makers and analysts in Canberra,  led by Washingon-based foreign policy expert, Michael Singh.

Michael Singh makes a point              photo: Henry Benjamin

Michael Singh is managing director of The Washington Institute and a former senior director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council. Previously, Mr Singh served as special assistant to secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell. He has testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee and served as an adjunct fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

He is an expert on Iran and nuclear proliferation, the Syrian and Egyptian crises, the Arab- Israeli conflict and the peace process.

Mr. Singh addressed senior officials from the Attorney-General’s Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Strategic and Policy Institute (ASPI) on the strategic and security implications for Australian foreign and domestic policy of contemporary events in the Middle East.

Mr Singh’s visit to Australia was arranged by the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, a constituent of the ECAJ and his engagements in Canberra were facilitated by ECAJ Public Affairs Officer, Alex Ryvchin, who joined Michael in Canberra.

”The ECAJ is committed to fostering policy debate and education on matters of concern to Australian Jewry, including countering extremism and incitement in Australia and achieving a final status solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict”, said ECAJ President Dr Danny Lamm.

“We would like to extend our gratitude to Michael Singh for contributing his expertise and remarkable depth of knowledge to the policy discourse in this country and to the officials and scholars in Canberra who so enthusiastically welcomed us”.

Michael Singh was guest speaker at the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies’ AGM earlier in the week.