Friday, April 11, 2014

The Carr Diary 2: Israel Lobby Deniers

In his new book, Diary of a Foreign Minister, former foreign minister Bob Carr talks of an Israel lobby exercising an extraordinary influence over former  PM Julia Gillard, but according to some folk he's either a bigot or a conspiracy-theorist. Meet the Israel lobby deniers:

Michael Danby (Shadow Minister for Israel and all-round mensch):

Louise Yaxley: He also talks about the Jewish lobby or the pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne running the country and says it has an extraordinary influence over Julia Gillard's office. What do you make of that?  
Michael Danby: Well, I put it in the same category as all of the other claims. It was, no lobby in Australia I understand has that kind of influence. It's laughable. But I suppose in the current climate, as George Brandis says, it's OK to be a bigot. ...
LY: But how much influence did the pro-Israel lobby have over Julia Gillard's office in your view.
MD: As much influence as any other lobby does...
LY: And is that why Julia Gillard took that position that she did about how Australia should vote at the UN?
MD: I think she took that position because she believed that the best way to a peace settlement... and to end the issue of the settlements is a peace settlement. (Labor MP Michael Danby says Bob Carr 'nutty' and 'maniacal' in interview: bigoted views, mobile.abc.net.au, 10/4/14)

Mark Leibler (Australia-Israel & Jewish Affairs Council):

"How does the Jewish lobby control the prime minister? Through donations to the ALP and sending people to Israel? I mean, give me a break. Would anyone seriously accept that?... When we've got an issue... which needs to be raised, we haven't had a problem in getting access to either ALP or liberal prime ministers or foreign ministers and so it should be. Any representative of a community organisation, if they've got something serious to say, they'll get the access." (Former foreign minister Bob Carr says 'pro-Israel lobby' influenced government policy, abc.net.au/news, 10/4/14)

Robert Goot (Executive Council of Australian Jewry):

"These claims border on conspiracy theories which make for salacious gossip and help sell books but bear no relation to reality." (The book salesman, jwire.com.au, 10/4/14)

Barry Cohen (retired federal Labor minister):

"I have seen what Bob Carr has written about the power of the pro-Israel lobby. You want to know what I think of Bob's comments? Here's what I think. I think it's bullshit." (Reasons stack up for ALP's simmering Israel divide, Mark Hawthorne, Sydney Morning Herald, 11/4/14)

2 comments:

Paul said...

Just following the fallout, it appears the plan is to discredit everything Carr says in the hope that the nasty kernel of truth gets swept up with the rest of it and discarded.

Anonymous said...

No-one mentioning the hairdresser getting a job selling apartments either....