ANZAC commemoration
Former MP Colonel Mike Kelly has told an ANZAC Day commemoration service in Sydney that “Israel’s enemies are our enemies”.
Mike Kelly
He also told the large audience gathered at the Sydney Jewish Museum for the NSW Association of Jewish Ex-servicemen and women that “Israel’s fight is our fight”.
Kelly reminisced about his time in the army and the military links between Israel and Australia extending back to long before Israel was established in 1948. He told the story of how legendary Israeli general Moshe Dayan lost his eye when acting as a scout for the Australian forces in Syria in 1941.
At the time Dayan was a member of the Australian-Palmach-Arab reconnaissance task force, preparing for the Allied invasion of Syria and Lebanon It was attached to the Australian 7th Division. Dayan’s unit worked on surveillance missions as they were not permitted to fight. While observing Arab forces through his binoculars he received the wound which resulted in the iconic black eye patch he would wear for the rest of his life.
Kelly spoke of the difficulty involved in winning today’s “battle of information” in regard to Israel and focused his talk on the long military links between the two countries going as far back as Gallipoli where the 700-strong Zionist Mule Corps joined the Australians in battle.
He spoke of Eliezer Margolin from West Australia who fought at Gallipoli and went on to form the Jewish Legion.
Kelly said that although Australia and its famous Light Horse had history-making links with Israel in the First World War, Australians and “the sons of ANZACs” did not fight in Palestine in WWII but certainly trained and rested there adding “thousands of Australian troops benefited from the support of the Jewish community there.”
Mike Kelly warned of the current threat of Islamist terrorism saying it would be with is “for decades to come” adding that the police would have to receive special training as well as the military adding that there was a need for “massive international intelligence and information”.
He said that the Muslim community “is our first line of defence”.
Wreaths were laid by members of the community and military and memorial prayers were recited by chaplains.
The Last Post was played by former Moriah College student Lewis Orner.
The event was MC’d by NAJEX vice-president Monica Kleinman.
