Andrews talks up trade in Israel

ISRAELI companies will reach new prominence in Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews said after opening a new trade office in Tel Aviv.

“This is a win-win for Victoria and Israel,” he claimed, confident that the new office will create jobs in Victoria and “open doors” for Israeli companies in the state.

He enthused about Tel Aviv as “the biggest innovation hub outside of the United States”, the “economic powerhouse of Israel”, and said: “There is no better place for Victoria to do business.”

During his two-day visit to Israel, his first as Premier, he visited Yad Vashem, where he told The AJN of plans for a cash injection for a new virtual reality exhibition at Melbourne’s Jewish Holocaust Centre.

Moments after announcing the investment he said it was a “very emotional thing” to visit Yad Vashem, where his guide stressed stories of death and of post-Holocaust rebirth, when he comes from a state where survivors have achieved so much.

He said it was “very, very moving” to be “standing here reflecting on the Jewish community of Melbourne”, saying that its success underscored the message of rebirth.

He spoke of “the number of survivors and all of their descendants who built a new life, a life of peace and prosperity, in Melbourne particularly and contributed so much, helping to build a modern Victoria, helping to give hope and opportunity to so many people.”

He also discussed the “generosity” of the community to both Jewish and mainstream causes.

He met Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke to him about the Iranian threat and deepening Israel–Victoria cooperation, and took a moving trip to the Western Wall.

Andrews was in Israel during the thick of the controversy over Donald Trump’s Jerusalem announcement, but declined to get drawn on the topic, telling The AJN, “Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has made the Australian government’s position very clear and as a state leader I’ll point you to the comments she has made on behalf of the Australian government.”

But while he sidestepped the big foreign policy issue, he had lots to say about Israel.

“I have the opportunity to travel to many parts of the world,” he commented.

“There are not many parts of the world I feel at home in but I feel at home here.”

He made these comments in an interview with The AJN, during which he called Israel a “wonderful place”, said he hopes to visit “many, many times”, and discussed “shared values” between Israel and Australia.

He said he views Israel “in terms of a celebration of history an acknowledgement of so many significant places and the significant journey of the Jewish People over many, many years but also a place that is all about hope for the future, whether it’s through innovation, technology and the entrepreneurial spirit”.

The new trade office will focus on all sorts of cooperation between Israel and Victoria, especially medical research, which will be dealt with by a full-time biomedical director and a Melbourne-based liaison who will connect Israeli organisations with Victoria’s biomedical sector.

Andrews kicked off the office’s work by announcing two new exchanges. Israeli and Victorian scientists will work towards new drugs to prevent and treat heartbeat irregularities, and towards understanding links between iron levels and schizophrenia.

Leon Kempler, chairman of the Australia–Israel Chamber of Commerce, lauded the “exciting announcement” about the office, and said that Israeli companies are increasingly looking to Melbourne.

The Premier’s new commitment to Melbourne’s Jewish Holocaust Centre entails a $30,000 contribution for the “Walk with a Survivor” exhibition.

It will send virtual reality film crews with Holocaust survivors on their return to sites where the Nazis perpetrated their horrors, capturing their stories on camera.

The project “forms part of the Jewish Holocaust Centre’s vision to preserve the voice of survivors when they are no longer physically able to tell their stories”, according to Warren Fineberg, the institution’s executive director.

The Holocaust Centre will develop the exhibition in collaboration with Yad Vashem, aiming at an intimate experience that allows people to feel like they are hearing directly from survivors.

Andrews was joined in Israel, and at Yad Vashem, by Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley, who commented: “Yad Vashem and Melbourne’s own Jewish Holocaust Centre have a long history of collaboration and we’re proud to be supporting the centre to continue to lead the world in sharing survivor stories.”

The two politicians marked up a first at Yad Vashem. They are believed to be the only politicians to lay a Magen David-shaped wreath at the memorial – the idea of Labor politician Marsha Thomson who was also on the trip.

Andrews moved slowly during his Yad Vashem visit, gripped by the explanations of his guide Ephraim Kaye, who underscored his messages vividly, telling the Premier that the “machinery of death had no precedent” and the “real revenge” of survivors is having grandchildren who they tell of the Nazi atrocities.

He highlighted Australian connections to Yad Vashem, including a visit to the Heroes’ Promenade which was endowed by the Gandel family.

Andrews said that he found the sight of the shoes of victims, under glass in the floor, to be a particularly “confronting image”.

“It was deeply moving to pay my respects at Yad Vashem today and to acknowledge the millions of people who lost their lives during the Holocaust,” the Premier said.

“So many of the men, women and children who survived the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust migrated to Australia. We have an obligation to our Jewish community to ensure their stories are told now and into the future.”

As a devout Catholic, Andrews found visiting Jerusalem, with its importance to monotheistic faiths, exciting.

“I’ve had few more profound experiences than the first time I went to the Kotel on a Friday afternoon and saw the diversity of people here,” he said.

NATHAN JEFFAY