“Canberra was very cold, and I’m not just talking about the weather,” former ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said on Wednesday as he sat alongside Australian Ambassador to Israel Neil Hawkins.
Maimon was speaking at the President’s Residence at a farewell reception hosted by President Isaac Herzog in honor of Jeremy Leibler, the outgoing president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, who is stepping down after eight years at the helm.
Among those present were Jewish Agency chairman Doron Almog; Moriah Ben-David, director of the Israel office of the ZFA; representatives of Australian Zionist organizations who earlier in the week had attended meetings of the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors; Paul Israel, the executive director of the Israel Australia Chamber of Commerce; and a large three-generation contingent of the Israeli and Australian branches of the Leibler clan.
Jeremy Leibler’s father, Mark Leibler, who headed the ZFA for 10 years and who in 2024 was awarded the President’s Medal of Honor, Israel’s highest civilian award, was among the many Leiblers who attended.
In reference to the wave of antisemitism that overtook Australia after October 7, Maiman said that Jeremy Leibler had been a source of wisdom. “It was a most challenging period for the Jewish community of Australia and the State of Israel,” Maimon recalled.
Lauding Leibler's courage
Reactions to statements from Jerusalem were also troubling, he acknowledged. Implying that the Australian government was far from friendly, Maimon credited Jeremy Leibler with successfully negotiating with the authorities to ensure that Herzog would receive a warm welcome on his state visit to Australia in February of this year. “As a result, it was a very successful visit.”
Almog, in lauding Leibler’s courage, said, “I saw you. I heard you when you said: ‘We’re not going anywhere. We’re here to stay.’”
Almog and other speakers also referred to Leibler’s love for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Most speakers characterized Leibler as a proud Australian Jew standing tall with courage and urged him to continue to inspire.
Michal Herzog, the president’s wife, who had accompanied him on his state visit, recalled her own first visit to Australia 40 years ago, in November 1986, when she joined her in-laws for her father-in-law, then-president Chaim Herzog’s historic state visit to the island continent. It was the first visit so far south by a president of Israel.
“We feel very close to the Australian Jewish community, and we feel especially close in times of crisis,” she said.
Herzog enthused over the “immense leadership qualities” which he attributed to Jeremy Leibler. “You say what you mean,” he said. “You were very clear about bringing me to Australia. It was very impressive... You are truly an asset to the Jewish people. We know Leiblers from all sides, an incredible family.”
Israel's security and the solidarity of the Jewish people
Herzog added that people such as Jeremy Leibler are needed in the president’s Voice of the People initiative.
In response, Leibler said that he had truly begun to realize how much Israel’s security and existence rely on the solidarity of the Jewish people. He also emphasized the importance of learning how to communicate with the people with whom you disagree.
In one of his final appearances as president of the ZFA, Leibler will be among the speakers at The Jerusalem Post Conference in Sydney on November 19, as will his father. Michal Herzog will also be among the speakers, albeit via video.
The incoming president of the ZFA is David Gold, a former global chairman of the World Union of Jewish Students, and currently the president of the Mount Scopus College Foundation.
Herzog met Gold in January 2023, at a gala reunion of Mount Scopus students, teachers and old collegians living in Israel. Herzog’s father visited Mount Scopus College in 1986.