New Ambassador ready to serve
"This is for me one of the most important things - to touch base with the community and make all understand that we're back in business."
After jetting into Australia on January 12, Amir Maimon, Israel’s new ambassador, has hit the ground running. Luggage hardly unpacked, he made a beeline for Melbourne and Sydney’s Jewish communities.
“This is for me one of the most important things – to touch base with the community and make all understand that we’re back in business,” Maimon told The AJN this week, rolling up his sleeves as Israel’s first permanent ambassador since Mark Sofer completed his posting in August 2020.
The father of three and grandfather of two is settling into Canberra with wife Tal. He has never visited Australia before, but relishes the opportunity to serve in the country he describes as “one of Israel’s best friends”.
The Australian Light Horse’s role in liberating Beersheba during World War I holds special significance for Maimon, who grew up in the desert city.
One of the aspects of the bilateral relationship he will be working on is trade and commerce.
“Overall trade is growing — directly and also indirectly, because many Israeli companies are already engaged in trade and business with Australian companies, not necessarily Israeli companies that are based in Israel, but companies that also have offices, branches and activities in third countries,” he said.
Maimon is confident Israel and Australia can further enhance technological transfer, involving Israel’s start-up companies, particularly in medicine and healthcare.
He said this cooperation has been strengthened by the pandemic. “It’s very important for both parties, not just for Australia, to learn from the Israelis but also for us to learn from Australia. After all, your health system here is highly developed and highly respected.”
Asked about the boycott of the Sydney Festival by artists opposed to Israeli government funding, Maimon was emphatic. “We do not have any intention to stop promoting Israeli culture. We will continue cooperating with Australian cultural institutions … and simultaneously we will do our utmost to make sure these events will not be politicised by extreme groups.”
Maimon most recently served as Israel’s first resident ambassador to Lithuania. Joining the Foreign Ministry in 1989 after a 14-year military career with Israel’s paratroopers, he helped to coordinate Operation Solomon in 1991, in which more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel in under 36 hours.
“That was very meaningful, watching the Jews that lived for so many years in Ethiopia and never gave up the dream and the hope that one day they would be carried on eagle’s wings back to Jerusalem — to see them arriving at the embassy compound in Addis Ababa … to see the sparks in their eyes.”
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