The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) is an
umbrella organisation in Australia of the
Zionist movement. It was established in
Melbourne,
Victoria in 1927 by prominent personalities, including
Sir John Monash and
Rabbi Israel Brodie, with Monash becoming its first president. On 11 November 2018, the biennial conference of ZFA elected Jeremy Leibler as its president, succeeding Danny Lamm who did not stand after serving for four years.
ZFA was established to campaign for a
permanent homeland for
the Jewish people. It has accepted and endorsed the 1968
Jerusalem Program
The Jerusalem Program ( he, תוכנית ירושלים) is the ideological platform of the Zionist Movement, and was initially adopted in 1951 at the 23rd World Zionist Congress to replace the Basel Program. The Jerusalem Program differed from t ...
and its 2004 revision as the ideological platform of Zionism.
Activities
Since its establishment, the Zionist Federation of Australia has become one of the most active national Zionist organisations. ZFA:
* maintains close cooperation with the regional arms of the Australian Zionist community; the State Zionist Councils of
Victoria,
New South Wales,
Queensland,
South Australia and
Western Australia.
* maintains regular consultation with the
Government of Israel and the
Government of Australia
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federalism, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster system, Westminster-sty ...
.
* is represented internationally, including at the
Jewish Agency for Israel and the
World Zionist Organization.
* encourages
aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
to Israel and supports Australians wishing to immigrate through aliyah offices in Melbourne and Sydney.
* supports numerous opportunities for Australians to visit Israel, including high-school trips, gap-year programs, academic study, volunteering,
Jewish Studies
Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (esp ...
, career internships and many other specialty programs. Many of these programs are organised with
Masa and
Taglit
Taglit-Birthright Israel ( he, תגלית), also known as Birthright Israel or simply Birthright, is a not-for-profit educational organization that sponsors free ten-day heritage trips to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights for young adult ...
.
* supports over fifteen Israeli shlichim (emissaries) to live in Australia for periods of one to three years to assist Zionist organisations.
* finances educational and cultural organisations that aim to strengthen Zionism in Australia, such as the
Australasian Zionist Youth Council (AZYC) and its member
youth movements, the
United Israel Appeal,
Maccabi Australia, the
Women's International Zionist Organization, the
Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) and Hagshama.
Adass Israel School sex abuse scandal
On December 29, 2019, despite recommendation by Israeli police to criminally prosecute deputy Health minister
Yaakov Litzman in two separate cases, including in the
extradition case of the accused in the Australian
Adass Israel School sex abuse scandal; he was again appointed Health minister when Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to resign the Health office, among others, due to his own pending prosecution in three criminal cases. ZFA president Jeremy Leibler then wrote an open letter to Netanyahu calling the promotion of Litzman “a slap in the face to the Australian Jewish Community, the Australian people, the community of Australian
mmigrantsin Israel and most shockingly to the survivors of Malka Leifer’s alleged abuse.”
See also
*
History of the Jews in Australia
*
Australian Jews
*
Australian Association for Jewish Studies
References
{{Jews and Judaism in Australia
External links
* Official Website: http://www.zfa.com.au/
Zionism in Australia