Australian UK Israel Leadership Dialogue launched
The inaugural UK Australia Israel Leadership Dialogue has been held in Jerusalem.
Shaul Mofaz, Albert Dadon and Tony Blair
Keynote speaker Ehud Olmert found himself among friends and admirers in spite of his continuing legal problems.
Hosted by Melbourne-based Albert Dadon who established the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, the Dialogue numbered among its guests former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.
At the Gala Dinner held to mark the Dialogue, Dadon referred to the 2009 Olmert peace initiative which according to Australian media “had almost gone through”.
He said that Olmert “is possibly one of the best Prime Ministers Israel has had”.
In his address, Olmert said that he hoped dialogue between Israel and Australia and the U.K. would extend to the Palestinians because he believed that “a two state solution is essential for the future of a democratic Jewish state.”
He said that a Prime Minister should not do what is politically comfortable for him or her…but that what is in the national interest. He cited assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, whose son attended the dinner, as having been a prime example.
Federal Labor Member of Parliament Michael Danby also attended the dinner along with the Australian ambassador to Israel Andrea Faulkner.
