Alex Dafner: The Australian & Israeli leaders opened an impressive new ANZACs museum at Beersheva 5.11.17 Yiddish Report

Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Government and Opposition representatives, military, diplomatic, community, business and other dignitaries attended the centenary celebration and commemoration of the victorious charge of the 4th and 10th ANZACs light horse regiments, including a re-enactment of the charge, which was staged In Israel in Beersheba on the 31st of October 2017. - The Australian and Israeli leaders also opened an impressive new ANZACs museum at Beersheva, with state of the art multimedia displays and texts which tell stories of the Australian soldiers and PM Turnbull and his wife Lucy made an emotional visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. - PM Turnbull also met with Israeli Pres Rivlin and PM Netanyahu and signed a memorandum of understanding for defence industry cooperation, established and annual strategic defence dialogue and launched two initiatives, an aviation cargo security initiative and protection of crowded places initiative and among other issues discussed the extradition of Malka Leifer, the former Addass Israel principal facing 74 charges of sexual abuse in Melbourne. - PM Turnbull also met with Palestinian Authority leaders, who complained about not being invited by the Australian Government to the Beersheba Centenary Commemorations and they told him about the travel restrictions and hardships under the Israeli occupation on the West Bank. - The Labor Opposition leader Bill Shorten met with the Israeli Labour Party leaders, whilst in Israel and addressed Australian business and community leaders there praising the Australian Jewish community and the Holocaust survivor generation in particular for their contribution to education, philanthropy, commerce. He also paid a confronting visit to the Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem where a 9 year old girl told him she would like the tear gas attacks to stop, and which the UN says have occurred 98 times this year. - Prof Paul Zimmet has been named Senior Victorian of the Year for 2017, in recognition of his forty years of work in diabetes disease research. Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg was the latest federal politician suspected of holding dual citizenship, following an article in the Australian newspaper citing his mother’s Hungarian origin, and inspite of her being Stateless prior to coming to Australia, having lost her Hungarian citizenship during WWII.

Minister for Environment Josh Frydenberg during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra Source: AAP