From JPost, by Isi Leibler, June 7, 2007 ....
Australian Prime Minister John Howard recently received a standing ovation at a Jewish community event, reflecting the admiration felt throughout the Jewish world for his courageous support for Israel.....
....Howard's friendship toward Jews can be traced back to his days as a young lawyer in a legal firm with Jewish principals. He first visited Israel in 1962 and since then has remained a champion of the Jewish state.
His feelings are best reflected in his own words: "The personal affection I have for the State of Israel, the personal regard I have for the Jewish people of the world, will never be diminished. It is something I hold dearly, something I value as part of my being and as part of what I have tried to do with my life."
....My most fascinating encounter with Howard took place in 2000, when I was already a Jerusalemite and he was visiting Israel in his prime ministerial capacity. This was just prior to the first intifada. He invited me and Leon Kempler, visiting head of the Australian Israel Chamber of Commerce, to accompany him on a visit to Yasser Arafat in Gaza.
I was reluctant to go, having until then prided myself on not having joined the stream of Jewish leaders paying homage to Arafat in the wake of the Oslo Accords. My view was that, irrespective of Israeli relations with Arafat, there was no obligation for Jewish leaders to embrace a man who was undeniably a duplicitous murderer.
I was finally persuaded. But in Gaza I tried to make myself as inconspicuous as possible. Unfortunately, the Australian PLO representative recognized me, and before the end of the meeting I was called forward to meet Arafat who, to my dismay, publicly embraced me and presented me and the prime minister with huge mother-of-pearl jewelry boxes embossed with "Doves of Peace." He declared that he had always wanted to meet me, but I was in no doubt that my name had only been whispered into his ear a few seconds earlier.
After the event, during a brief stopover on our return to Tel Aviv, Howard took me aside and asked me what I thought of Arafat. I responded unhesitatingly: that despite the nice words Arafat had expressed in support of peace, I did not trust a word he uttered. I told him that despite the fact that the majority of Israelis had convinced themselves that they were on an irreversible path to peace, I had a feeling of dread about the future and was convinced he would betray us.
I clearly recollect Howard's response: "I want you to know that should Arafat ever renege on the commitments to peace he conveyed today, I give you a solemn undertaking that if I am still prime minister, the Australian Jewish community and the people of Israel will never have reason to feel that I forsook them."
Howard kept his word. In subsequent years Australia walked a lonely path, courageously supporting Israel at international forums. I have frequently thought about what he told me then, and on repeated occasions I would reiterate my respect to him for never having deviated from his commitment. Indeed, while most of the world turned fiercely against Israel after the intifada, Howard's support for Israel intensified.
As he recently told a Jewish gathering: "Good friends stand together when it is unfashionable to do so."
We can only hope that in the years to come, other statesmen may emerge who will replicate the courageous and principled stance toward us as exemplified by Prime Minister John Howard.
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