Jones addresses AIPAC
March 20, 2015 by J-Wire News Service
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Jeremy Jones, Director of International and of Community Affairs for the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), has addressed the 2015 Policy Conference of The America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in Washington.
Kim Beazley and Jeremy Jones
The AIPAC Conference involved 16,000 people, representing a wide diversity of supporters of a strong Israel-US relationship. General Sessions, which for all attendees, were addressed by such prominent personalities as Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu of Israel, President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic, former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice and US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power.
Other sessions dealt with many topics of interest to participants, such as terrorism, Middle East history, trends in Arab politics and peace-building initiatives. Significant delegations of students, Christian supporters of Israel, Rabbis and other religious leaders and America’s major minority populations were visible, active and engaged.
In 2014, Jeremy Jones was the first Australian resident ever invited to address an AIPAC session, where he spoke on challenges and opportunities for Israel in Asia, with a focus on South East Asia.
This year, he joined Australia’s Ambassador to the USA, Kim Beazley, for a discussion at the Australian Embassy.
“At AIPAC, I encountered a widespread, genuine interest in the Australian Jewish Community, Australia’s foreign policy, how we understand global issues such as terrorism and antisemitism and also on AIJAC’s work in Asia and the Pacific”, Jeremy Jones said.
“AIJAC is seen to be in the highest echelons of organisations promoting better understanding of Israel and the interests of the Jewish community, and AIPAC also provided a wonderful opportunity to interact with colleagues from North America and Israel but also Europe and Latin America”, he added.
While in Washington, Mr Jones also met with a number of representatives of major think-tanks and Jewish organisations, as well as interfaith activists’ work and academics involved in the analysis of violent extremism and Israel-diaspora relations.
