The antisemitism summit targeting mayors and councillors is sponsored by some of Australia’s biggest companies and wealthiest individuals. Yaakov Aharon and Wendy Bacon with the story.
The real estate, property development, defence and finance industries are all represented at next month’s antisemitism summit on the Gold Coast.
Some of the key individuals in the sponsor companies also have links to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce and major charities contributing to Israel including the Jewish National Fund (JNF). It is unclear how much each sponsor is contributing or from where the sponsors are sourcing their funds.
The ‘Guardian’ sponsor of the Combat Antisemitism conference (CAM) is one of Australia’s largest privately owned companies, Southern Steel. The owner of Southern Steel is Peter Smaller, who is worth $1.2 billion, and a board member and past president of JNF Australia. JNF Australia is registered with three separate Australian charities, totalling $16.6 million in revenue, much of which goes to Israel..
Southern Steel directly supplies Australia’s defence industries and also partners with Bisalloy, in which it holds 18% of shares, making it the largest shareholder according to Bisalloy’s latest annual accounts.
Bisalloy supplies armoured steel munitions to Israel, in violation of the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
In July, at least 200 local pro-Palestine activists staged a community picket outside Bisalloy, successfully shutting down the company’s operations for a day.
On this week’s ABC Insiders, Defence Minister Richard Marles was pressed by host David Speers on whether the government considered the export of Bisalloy’s armoured steel for Israeli armoured vehicles to be acceptable. After a long, hesitant pause, Marles repeated the line, “We are not supplying weapons to Israel,” offering little further clarification.
When asked directly if supplying steel for armoured vehicles was permissible, he replied, “We are not contributing to that, David.” This directly contradicts Bisalloy’s own website.
Australia’s Bisalloy Steel sells to IDF in violation of UN Arms Treaty
As well as CAM, Southern Steel sponsors both the JNF and the Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
Other conference sponsors
Sydney Eastern Suburbs construction company Horizon is another conference sponsor. Its managing director, David Moses, is a former IDF soldier and a past Vice-President of JNF Australia.
The Dor Foundation, which was established in January to “raise millions” to partner with others in fighting anti-semitism, is another sponsor. Former Treasurer, John Frydenberg, now Chair of Goldman Sachs Australia, is the Chair of Dor’s Board of Guardians.
Dor operates the Combatting Antisemitism Fund Limited. Its constitution was registered by Arnold Bloch Liebler. An ASIC search shows that there are three Directors of Dor Foundation, one of whom is Jeremy Dunkel, who is the Chair of Y2i, which raises funds to sponsor trips to Israel for Jewish students.
Dunkel is also a director of Pengana Capital, which includes the Alpha Israel fund, which promotes itself as an Israeli Equity fund investing in cutting-edge technologies. Its most recent report states that
market sentiment was buoyed by the Israeli and US bombing of Iran,
which were viewed as “long-term de-escalation events.”
Pengana has holdings in Israeli banks and Isramco Negev 2, which is engaged in the production of oil and gas in Israel. The fund offers Australian investors “a promising market”, including electronic defence and cybersecurity industries.
Pengana Capital’s Israel fund.
Another sponsor with property connections is EG Funds, one of Australia’s largest independent real estate investment funds. Its chairman, Michael Easson, is a Member of Labor Friends of Israel and a speaker at the conference.
Then there is the Bachrach Naumburger Group, a privately owned property company that owns and manages commercial properties in Brisbane and Coffs Harbour. Rodney Naumburger is a director and major owner of the group and a past President and current director of the Zionist Council of NSW.
In 2022, Naumburger wrote an article arguing that Amnesty should be denied charity status because it had issued a report that Israel is an apartheid state. Naumburger’s judgment that Amnesty and its report were antisemitic was based on the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
This is the definition that is promoted by the Special Envoy Jillian Segal, which the conference organisers want to see implemented across local government in Australia.
Sponsoring the attendees
Late July, a letter from CAM to councils around Australia stated that 200 Councillors and others across 70 Councils had already registered to attend. MWM asked CAM to confirm these numbers and how many have accepted free accommodation, but we have not had a reply.
The conference is marketed as an “all expenses paid” event. The venue and accommodation details are only available to those who have accepted the invitation. MWM estimates the basic conference costs to be in the order of $400,000 to $600,000, plus travel reimbursements, speaker costs, advertising, administration, conference materials, etc.
In total, MWM estimates the total costs to be well over $1m.
Perhaps hinting at a conference venue, Meriton Suites is a ‘Platinum Sponsor’.
Meriton is the largest owner of apartment hotels in Australia and a leading property developer. Its managing director, Harry Triguboff, is Australia’s second richest individual with a net worth of $29.65B. He is a major donor to the JNF and a sponsor of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
The offer in the invitation sent to mayors and councillors is for “a large hospitality benefit to be paid for by a variety of advertised commercial sponsors and pro-Israeli partner organisations.”
This, of course, raises the question of whether such an offer of free hospitality falls within the ethical guidelines of councils. We will explore that next.
David Gonski and Jillian Segal lead Israel lobby heavies at Gold Coast antisemitism summit
Yaakov Aharon is a Jewish-Australian living in Wollongong. He enjoys long walks on Wollongong Beach, unimpeded by Port Kembla smoke fumes and AUKUS submarines.
The views expressed by Yaakov Aharon in this article are his alone and do not represent any other individual, entity, or organisation.
Wendy Bacon is an investigative journalist who was the Professor of Journalism at UTS. She worked for Fairfax, Channel Nine and SBS and has published in The Guardian, New Matilda, City Hub and Overland. She has a long history in promoting independent and alternative journalism.
She is a long-term supporter of a peaceful BDS and the Greens.