Published: 30 July 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Nachman Shai, the new Minister for Diaspora Affairs, is on a mission to remind the Jewish world that Israel remains a liberal democratic country
VISITING ISRAELI POLITICIANS like to remind Australian Jews how special they are. “We are part of you, you are part of us,” former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a 2000-strong crowd at Bondi Junction’s Central Synagogue in 2017.
Three years later, when addressing a packed gala event in Sydney, former President Reuven Rivlin went one better: “The Australian Jewish community is a model for Jewish communities around the world.”
On Wednesday night, it was Dr Nachman Shai’s turn.
Even though the newly appointed Minister for Diaspora Affairs had to settle with a Zoom visit, rather than in person, he was no less effusive in his praise for Australian Jewry.
“You are the best Jewish community in terms of a relationship with Israel and Zionism,” he told the Zionist Federation of Australian executive meeting.
“I want to learn the secret to how you learned such an attachment to Israel. I admire you.”
In a short 30-minute address, that included a handful of questions and answers from the audience, Shai pitched himself as the Jewish diaspora’s voice in the new government.
“Take advantage of the fact that you have a voice in the cabinet – I am your man on the ground in Israel,” Shai urged the audience.
He said he considered it his mission to explain to his colleagues the implications of a given government decision on Jewish communities around the world.
Shai heralded his government’s recent action on climate change, he highlighted the remarkable achievement of a coalition that included members of an Arab party.
