AJA defends ‘follow the money’ comments

Australian Jewish Association (AJA) president David Adler has defended telling Sky News hosts over the weekend that the support of the major Jewish communal roof bodies for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament “relates to the principle of ‘follow the money'”.

The independent right-wing organisation officially declared its opposition to the Voice last week. Appearing on the Outsiders program on Sunday, Adler was asked why he thought Australia’s mainstream representative Jewish communal organisations have largely endorsed it.

Citing what he called a “leftward” shift, he added, “There’s a more controversial reason as well. And it relates to the principle of ‘follow the money’.

“If you are involved with an organisation that wants government grants … or if you’re involved with a professional firm or business that wants government contracts, then endearing yourself to the Labor Party at the moment might be a strategy that you’d consider.”

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council national chairman Mark Leibler, who co-chaired the Referendum Council and is a leading advocate for the “Yes” case, said the AJA “is an extremist organisation that in no way represents the broader Jewish community”.

“While David Adler’s remarks on Sky were characteristically ugly, nothing emanating from the AJA could surprise me. Let’s not forget their cosy relationship with One Nation’s Pauline Hanson, Adler’s offer to escort infamous Canadian racist Lauren Southern on a tour of Caulfield or Bondi, and AJA’s justification via social media of the recent pogrom by Jewish extremists in the Palestinian village of Huwara,” he said.

“His ‘follow the money’ line is a classic antisemitic trope, which would be considered completely unacceptable by our mainstream Jewish community.”

AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein added, “The imputation of base motives to Jewish organisations furthers the antisemitic trope that Jews put money ahead of morality. The comments were either careless or calculated, but nothing excuses them.”

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said Adler’s suggestion “is as disingenuous as it is false”.

“The fact that a Jewish organisation would use an antisemitic trope to delegitimise other Jewish organisations on television is extremely disturbing, but having regard to AJA’s track record, no one should be surprised. AJA has a long record of providing a platform to the most extreme views,” he said.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-CEO Peter Wertheim called it “an outrageous slur”.

“The ECAJ neither receives, nor has any prospect of receiving, government money of any kind. Nor do we hesitate to give voice to our concerns when we disagree with the government,” he said.

“We all have an obligation to consider these issues seriously rather than to retreat reflexively into the grubby politics of the culture wars and ideology.”

Asked by The AJN to clarify his remarks, Adler said, “It is no secret that a large number of corporate, sporting and other organisations are backing the Voice. It is also no secret that many such groups are recipients of hefty government funding.

“It is entirely appropriate to discuss possible conflicts of interest – including those affecting people and organisations within the Jewish community. It is in no way antisemitic to hold ourselves to the same standard as we do everybody else.”

Meanwhile, a series of antisemitic tweets surfaced earlier this week after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed gratitude to the Jewish groups who are supporting a “Yes” vote.

The tweets included a photo of Albanese with Mark Leibler captioned “Mark Leibler, Jewish Tax Lawyer and architect of Aboriginal Voice to Parliament”, and images of eight Jewish politicians and civil society leaders with the caption “All of the major creators, financiers and supporters of the Voice to Parliament are Jewish. Ask yourself why 0.38 per cent of Australia’s population is using three per cent as a battering ram against the rest of the country.”

Mark Leibler said, “This social media activity simply goes to show that antisemitism is alive and well in this country, and sits side by side with the persistent racism experienced by Indigenous Australians.”

Rubenstein told The AJN, “It appears that whenever there is a controversy, antisemites also use such opportunities to spread their contemptible hatred.”

Added Wertheim, “The resort to antisemitic conspiracy theories in opposition to the Voice represents a new low in public discourse about this issue. Those who put forward these statements, or acquiesce in them, are beneath contempt.”