Describing Israel as a “beacon of democracy and freedom,” Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser last night said his government would continue to resist all attempts to deny Israel its rightful place in the community of nations. Fraser was speaking to 3000 people who attended a Solidarity with Israel rally here to mark the 30th anniversary Independence Day mark the 30th anniversary Independence Day celebrations. An enthusiastic audience gave Fraser a standing ovation after he declared that Australia would appose “the repugnant attempts to link Zionism and racism.”
Fraser welcomed the peace initiatives which led to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem last November and expressed the hope that it would prove to be the breakthrough which would lead to a peace which would create a new era for Israel and the Middle East. The Australian Prime Minister was presented with a Jewish National Fund certificate in the names of his four children who will have trees planted on their behalf in the JNF Children’s Forest in Israel which is to serve as a memorial to Jewish children killed in the Holocaust.
A former Israel Minister for Transport and Communications, Gad Yaacobi now a Labor member of the Knesset, brought greetings from Israel to the Melbourne rally and will be guest speaker at a series of similar community rallies to be held throughout Australia in the coming week.
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