Julie Bishop addresses UIA Women’s Division
Jewish women from all over Sydney attended a sold-out breakfast event to hear The Right Hon Julie Bishop MP, headline speaker for this year’s UIA Women’s Division. Federal Member for Wentworth, Dr Kerryn Phelps, was among the guests.
Julie Bishop
In 2019 UIA NSW Women’s Division will support Family Matters, a family wellness program conducted during the absorption process that works to prevent domestic violence amongst Ethiopian olim struggling to adapt to modern gender and societal norms in Israel.
Special guest speaker Arielle Di Porto, Acting Director Aliyah & Absorption, The Jewish Agency, currently promotes and processes Aliyah around world (except the former Soviet Union), especially in Venezuela and the Middle East.
Bev Michaelis, Judy Stromer, Penny Hurst, Julie Bishop, Caroline Bolot and Debbie Schaffer
As a Moroccan Jew who made Aliyah, she has firsthand knowledge of living as a Jew in a hostile environment.
“I left behind the fear of being a Jew” she said.
Di Porto spoke about problems faced by Jews today, however few they are in number, in places like Yemen, Syria, and Venezuela, and the danger and difficulty of getting “at risk Jews” to Israel.
Women’s Division President Caroline Bolot spoke eloquently about the power and importance of women supporting the Family Matters initiative.
Former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop took the opportunity to congratulate the newly elected NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian for running a successful campaign.
Touching on the significance of the privately funded Israeli spacecraft Beresheet, she used it to demonstrate the big dreams of a small nation.
Caroline Bolot
“Since its establishment, this small country has had many big ideas, including the creation of a robust and vibrant democracy in a very tough neighbourhood.
“Australia and Israel have been the staunchest of friends. Australia was the first nation to sign the UN Partition motion in 1948 and today Australia is one of a very small handful of countries prepared to stand up and vote against one-sided, antisemitic resolutions that find their way for a vote on the floor of the UN General Assembly” she said.
Having visited Israel on three separate occasions, she said she now urges people to visit Israel to see first hand the many challenges facing the country.
Musing on the different leadership styles of men and women, she said that there should be equal numbers of men and women in power as their leadership skills complement each other. She admitted entering Parliament with the ambition of becoming Foreign Minister but it took her 15 years to achieve that goal.
