Peres spreads the love
ISRAEL’S President Shimon Peres described the relationship between the Jewish State and Australia as one of love.
ISRAEL’S President Shimon Peres described the relationship between the Jewish State and Australia as one of love.
The strong ties between the two countries were evident as Peres, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and several senior members of the Knesset met Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and delegates from the Australia-Israel Leadership Forum on Monday in Jerusalem.
“Australia is a beloved country in Israel,” Peres told forum delegates, including Rudd, at the President’s Residence. “Love is the diplomacy that exists from the standpoint towards Australia.”
Unlike many of Israel’s political players, Peres spoke about the peace process from an overarching, rather than a micro, perspective. He explained that Israel’s, and the West’s, main tool in the fight against extremist Islam is its “moral superiority”.
Responding to a question from shadow education minister Christopher Pyne about Iran, Peres said the morality of fighting the brutal Islamic regime cannot be forgotten. “That’s the one thing we continue to ignore, the moral issue,” he said of Iran. “I think moral sanctions are important.”
He accused Iran of trying to turn the Middle East into an “extremist empire” and “the centre of terror”.
“They destroyed Lebanon – it was a nice country – they destroyed Yemen, they are entering Sudan and Somalia and they are going to South America because the Middle East is too small for them.”
Peres also predicted governments would increasingly have less influence over crucial political matters. “Social and civilian society is becoming more powerful and governments around the world are becoming weaker,” he said, citing the notion that some autocratic governments will not consider democracy, but will allow the involvement of international NGOs. “It is an illusion that prime ministers and presidents run reality, they are being run by reality,” he said.
He added his belief that science and technology, not war, would be the healer of the future. Already, Arab doctors and patients coexist in all Israel’s hospitals with Jewish doctors and patients. “Why in the hospitals can we be so peaceful, but when we are healthy, we forget everything?” he asked.
The 87-year-old president remarked: “The world is changing very fast.The world goes up by elevators and our minds go up in steps.”
For full coverage of the AILF mission, see this week’s Australian Jewish News.
NAOMI LEVIN
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