Principals’ dismay at Bibi
THE principals of Bialik College and Mount Scopus Memorial College have expressed their “profound dismay” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be addressing the community’s youth during his visit to Melbourne.
THE principals of Bialik College and Mount Scopus Memorial College have expressed their “profound dismay” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be addressing the community’s youth during his visit to Melbourne next month.
In a statement released on Sunday, Jeremy Stowe-Lindner and Rabbi James Kennard wrote that the decision was made “despite our requests”, and even though “one of our schools offered to make available space for 2000 people – enough to address community members and many hundreds of young people”.
The principals continued, “This was declined in place of his addressing community leaders and a token smattering of young people” at a Melbourne synagogue.
Rabbi Kennard and Stowe-Lindner went on to say, “At this time when bolstering the next generation’s connection to Israel is so critical, we regard this as a sorely missed opportunity.”
The principals also dismissed the alternative they say they were presented with as “unacceptable”.
They wrote, “The offer for our students to watch the address from afar on YouTube – no more engaging than one of billions of clips available on the internet – and of very small delegations from some of the schools – is unacceptable for a community which prides itself on its Zionism and strives to instil that spirit in the next generation.”
Following on from their statement, the principals said that Netanyahu “may or may not realise just how tenuous is the connection of Australia’s next generation of Jews with Israel, given the strong and growing anti-Israel mood both domestically and internationally”.
“For him to pass over this wonderful opportunity to put Israel’s case to such a key part of the Jewish community implies to some that he’s not interesting in sustaining that connection.”
Leibler Yavneh College, however, was more understanding of the constraints facing Netanyahu during his trip.
Chairman Avi Gilboa said, “Leibler Yavneh College appreciates that a visit to Melbourne by the Prime Minister involves complex logistic and security considerations.
“We are grateful for the invitation to the cohort of our student leaders who will attend the communal event, and whereas the college would of course have welcomed the opportunity for greater student representation, we are confident that our students’ enduring connectivity to Israel will continue to be best accomplished through authentic Zionist educational curriculum content.
“Leibler Yavneh plans to stream the event live at our Elsternwick campus and we extend an open invitation to all Jewish students from non-Jewish day schools who would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in this milestone communal experience.”
The Israeli embassy in Canberra declined to comment.
DANIEL SHANDLER
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