In the weeks after its recent election, the Liberal-National Party government of Prime Minister John Howard has demonstrated its abhorrence of terrorism and its strong support of the Middle East peace process.
Howard, who has been publicly identified as a friend of Israel and the Jewish community for many years, said the first letter he wrote in his new post was to Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. The letter expressed his sympathy for the victims of recent Hamas terrorism and his backing of the peace process.
The new Australian leader also sent a message to be read in synagogues on the day he was sworn into office that reflected the same sentiments.
Alexander Downer, a former Liberal Party leader who is now foreign minister, instructed senior Department of Foreign Affairs officials to meet with the charge d’affaires at the Iranian Embassy in Canberra to convey “our concern at the Iranian approach to terrorism and to seek from Iran an explicit and specific condemnation of the recent attacks in Israel.”
Diane Shteinman, the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said in an interview, “The Jewish community will be pursuing with vigor the issues of terrorism and Australia’s relationship with Iran.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
