Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is at it again, this time passing two anti-Israel resolutions last week. The first resolution was not new and it continued a UNESCO tradition of denying Israeli claims to the Old City of Jerusalem.  The second resolutio

At an exclusive AIJAC press briefing in Melbourne, Anti-Defamation Commission guest and veteran former US Middle East peace envoy and Ambassador Dennis Ross spoke out against calls for the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, saying such gestures place ‘symbols over substance' and mak

Kingdom of Olives and Ash, a new collection of essays edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, features 26 different writers - all of whom visited Israel on delegations organised by Breaking the Silence. The book is a latticework of propaganda, pieced together by distortions and half-truths. The

Those supporting a motion at the upcoming ALP NSW State Conference calling for recognising a Palestinian state argue they are aiming to advance prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Yet an informed look at the current situation would make it clear that premature recognition of "Palestine" as a st

On June 16, Israeli border policewoman Hadas Malka, 23, was fatally stabbed near Jerusalem's Damascus Gate in a co-ordinated gun and knife attack. Seconds earlier, two other assailants attacked Israeli border police troops nearby with a homemade gun and knives, injuring four people. All three attack

When the guns fell silent on the evening of June 10, 1967, the Middle East and Israel were forever changed. The discussion Israel's cabinet ministers began on June 14 forged the conundrum we live in now. Reading through transcripts of some 20 hours of discussions held the week after the Six Day War

It's official: diplomatic ties between New Zealand and Israel are back on. In June, after six months of discussions, Israel announced that it was sending its Ambassador Itzhak Gerberg back to New Zealand and restoring full diplomatic relations.

Next week India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make history as the first ever sitting Indian prime minister to visit Israel. The visit marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and India.

With the Trump Administration reportedly exploring efforts to re-start Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, and Administration envoys Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kushner in Israel this week to meet both sides, this Update offers advice from some veterans of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking suggesting the

Are some people at the UN finally starting to get how unhelpful and unfair the approach of UN bodies to Israel and the Palestinians has been? US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has certainly been outspoken about this problem, for instance, saying in February, "The outrageously biased resolutions fr

Israeli Labor MK Michal Biran on Israel as a Jewish state and recognition of a Palestinian state. Interviewed at AIJAC in Melbourne, 23 June 2017.

Gaza, the narrow, overcrowded, and destitute coastal strip wedged between Egypt and Israel is thirsting for power and light: physically, politically, and psychologically. The physical crisis is about the strip's lone power station's fuel, which ran out in April due to intensifying tension between H

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made headlines in June when he told visiting US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) should be disbanded.

In December 2014, I blogged about how the latest Israeli construction statistics in the West Bank at that time had been distorted in the news, revealing how clear data showing a drop in construction had been spun into a story claiming a "surge" based on a misleading interpretation of the data.

Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein discussed the Six Day War on the ABC Radio National program "Counterpoint" with Amanda Vanstone.

David Gardner criticises Israel for continuing to hold the West Bank 50 years later, but is this really fair? In the immediate aftermath of its stunning victory, Israel offered to return land captured in exchange for peace. However, that August, the Arab League met, and responded with the ‘thr

On June 15, trilateral talks concluded between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. On the meetings, Netanyahu remarked, "there's a simple fact about Cyprus, Greece and Israel that brings us very close together. We'r

DC's newest superhero movie, "Wonder Woman" has grossed over $440 million worldwide, received rave reviews and has broken barriers as the most successful comic book film with a female lead, and the largest ever budget for a female director. However, not everyone can experience the film; it has so f

The recent British election was a disaster for incumbent Prime Minister Theresa May and her Conservative Party.

Israel announced on Tuesday that it will restore full diplomatic relations with New Zealand, and that its Ambassador Itzhak Gerberg will return to Wellington in the coming days.  Israel downgraded its diplomatic ties with New Zealand in response to New Zealand's co-sponsoring of UN Security Cou