New ambassador addresses The Executive Council of Australian Jewry conference
Late last week Ambassador Mark Sofer presented his credentials to Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove ahead of travelling to Melbourne to address the ECAJ.
Ambassador Mark Sofer addresses the conference
Israel’s new Ambassador to Australia delivered his first public address since presenting his credentials to the Governor-General, at the annual conference of the nation’s peak representative body, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
Speaking with warmth and passion, Ambassador Sofer began by expressing gratitude to the leadership of the community for its steadfast and effective advocacy for the State of Israel, before discussing the challenges facing Israel in the diplomatic sphere. The Ambassador noted the powerful bond that has been forged between Australia and the Jewish state, as shown through the depth of government-to-government and business-to-business ties and the historic visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu to Australia earlier this year, followed by the highly successful visit of Prime Minister Turnbull to Israel last month to commemorate the Battle of Beersheba.
In his remarks to introduce the Ambassador, ECAJ President Anton Block spoke of Ambassador Sofer’s rich body of work in public life including as an advisor to Shimon Peres and Israel’s Ambassador to India.
Block noted: “Mark’s appointment as Israel’s next Ambassador to Australia shows the importance that Jerusalem places on the Australia-Israel relationship.”
Block assured the Ambassador that he will “find here an energetic, resilient, capable and unified Jewish community, and one that wears its Zionism with pride and with a sense of duty.”
ECAJ ‘s president Anton Block
Ambassador Mark Sofer and President of JCCV Jennifer Huppert
