Yom Haatzma’ut celebration marked by unity, resilience and defiance

Political leaders, diplomats and members of Sydney’s Jewish community gathered on Thursday night to celebrate Israel’s 78th Independence Day.

This was a powerful show of solidarity amid rising antisemitism and the ongoing Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

The annual Yom Ha’atzma’ut reception was presented in Sydney’s CBD by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies together with the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the State Zionist Council of NSW and the Zionist Federation of Australia.

It brought together senior political figures including NSW Premier Chris Minns, NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane and Israeli Ambassador to Australia Dr Hillel Newman, alongside political representatives, diplomats and Jewish community leaders.

Opening the evening, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip reflected on Israel’s resilience and the significance of the annual gathering.

“This function, at which we gather tonight, has been held for over 50 years, since the early 1970s,” Ossip said.

Quoting Israeli writer Ari Shavit, Ossip said Israelis had chosen “to lead a normal and joyous life in abnormal circumstances”.

He said Israel continued to thrive despite war and insecurity, noting the country had recently ranked eighth in the World Happiness Report, while Israelis under 25 ranked third highest globally for happiness.

Ossip said Israel had “never been more important than right now” and described the Jewish state as “the answer to Jewish powerlessness, the answer to exile and the answer to 2000 years in which we depended on the goodwill of others”.

He said Israel was “not only a refuge” but also a country whose founders “could never have dreamed” what it would become.

“A country of laboratories and startups, a country of medicine and agriculture, beaches and cafes, families and dreamers, a vibrant, noisy, imperfect, highly argumentative democracy confronting threats that most democracies could scarcely imagine,” he said.

Premier Chris Minns received prolonged applause after delivering one of the night’s strongest speeches, linking the celebration directly to the aftermath of the December 14 Bondi Beach terror attack and the Royal Commission hearings currently underway.

“This community right here in Sydney has again walked through that dark valley after the worst terrorist attack in the history of this country,” Minns said.

He said the attack had been intended “to menace and intimidate, to drive Jewish Australians from the public square”.

Minns described Israel as “a friend of Australia and Australians since its founding in 1948” and praised the Jewish community for gathering “not in fear or silence, but instead with pride, with defiance”.

Referring to testimony heard this week before the Royal Commission, Minns condemned antisemitic abuse against Jewish children and rejected attempts to downplay the issue.

“The people who make those statements, if they have any empathy at all in their hearts, stop and read some of this testimony,” he said.

“When you hear a 13-year-old child being abused in the playground with awful slurs aimed directly at their Jewish identity, you can’t tell me that is a reasonable disagreement about foreign policy. It is racism, plain and simple.”

Minns praised the leadership of David Ossip and NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Michelle Goldman during what he described as the community’s “darkest hour”.

He also paid tribute to victims and survivors of the Bondi Beach terror attack, including Sofia and Boris Gurman and Reuven Morrison, describing Jewish Australians as “some of the most brave, valiant, best people that we have in our country”.

Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane, the member for Vaucluse, said the Royal Commission hearings were beginning to shift public understanding of antisemitism in Australia.

“For the first time leading our TV news services are empathetic, compassionate stories of the lived Jewish experience,” she said.

Sloane described the testimony before the Commission as “very brave” and “very powerful”, saying many Jewish Australians were living “in my community, in a parallel world to me and others who are non-Jewish”.

“We must stand clearly and consistently against antisemitism in all its forms, wherever it appears,” she said.

“I want to be unequivocal that I will continue to stand with you, and I will continue to stand for you, for your safety, for your dignity and for your right to live openly and proudly as members of the Australian Jewish community.”

Sloane also described Israel as “a beacon of innovation and creativity” and praised members of the Jewish community who had given evidence before the Royal Commission, including one of her own staff members, Dina.

Sloane reflected on her own visit to Israel, describing the country as “a beacon of innovation and creativity” whose achievements in science, technology, agriculture and medicine had reached far beyond its borders.

“I’ve seen that firsthand on my trip to Israel a number of years ago,” she said, while praising the country’s resilience and the strength of its people.

Israeli Ambassador Dr Hillel Newman, attending his first Yom Haatzma’ut celebration in Australia since arriving two and a half months ago, thanked the Australian Jewish community and political leaders for standing with Israel.

“It is warming to my heart and the heart of the people of Israel to see such a distinguished gathering here celebrating with us,” Newman said.

He said Israel “cherishes those that stand in solidarity with Israel” and expressed optimism about strengthening the Australia-Israel relationship.

“We will try and move it on to the next level,” he said.

Reflecting on the Bondi Beach terror attack, Newman said the tragedy had deeply affected Israelis.

“It was as if Israelis were killed on the streets of Tel Aviv,” he said.

“When people shoot at the Nova festival in Israel, they shoot Jews in Sydney, here in Australia.”

“We stand together. We have a covenant of blood, one could say, between Israel and Australia.”

Newman described Israel as “a miracle state” and “a global leader in innovation” while also highlighting the historic ties between Australia and Israel through shared ANZAC commemorations.

“We want peace for the world, liberty, and sometimes one has to fight for that privilege,” he said.

The evening concluded with remarks from State Zionist Council of NSW President Orna Triguboff, who reflected on multicultural identity and the connections many Australians feel to more than one homeland.

“We have so many leaders of different cultures and countries here tonight,” she said, acknowledging the Greek Consul-General and members of the Iranian community in attendance.

“Many of us here tonight carry deep connections to two lands, and rather than feeling torn between them, we can feel supported and richer by our varied loyalties.”

Triguboff described Israel’s independence as “a testament to the ability of a people to dream, to endure and to work towards building a society that offers security and dignity to all those within its borders”.

As the evening concluded with the Australian anthem and Haatikvah led by Ben Goldstein, the event’s message of resilience, solidarity and defiance remained unmistakable.

Minns captured the mood of the room in the final moments of his speech: “You don’t need to change. Australia needs to change.”