SYDNEY (JTA) – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has called new elections for Sept. 7, avoiding a conflict with Yom Kippur.
Rudd said Sunday that the clash with Yom Kippur — Sept. 14, the date set by Julia Gillard, his predecessor — was a “massive inconvenience” to Jews. Gillard was ousted in late June from the top job.
Australia’s elections are always held on Saturdays, so Yom Kippur was not an extra burden for Orthodox Jews, who always pre-poll.
Rudd is head of the country’s Labor Party. A Newspoll survey in late July had Labor trailing the center-right Liberal Party, 52 percent to 48 percent.
