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 is Peter Smaller, who is worth $1.2 billion and is a board member and past president of the Jewish National Fund (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 supplies Australia’s defence industries and is a partner with Bisalloy, holding 18% of its 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.
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.
Defence Minister Richard Marles was pressed on ABC Insiders, in mid August, on whether the government considered the export of Bisalloy’s armoured steel for Israeli armoured vehicles to be acceptable. After a long pause, Marles repeated his line: “We are not supplying weapons to Israel”. When asked directly if supplying steel for armoured vehicles was permissible, he replied: “We are not contributing to that, David.” This contradicts Bisalloy’s own website.
As well as CAM, Southern Steel sponsors both the JNF and the Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
Other summit sponsors
Sydney Eastern Suburbs construction company Horizon is another summit sponsor. David Moses, its managing director, is a former Israeli Defense Forces 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 antisemitism, is another sponsor. Former Coalition treasurer Josh Frydenberg, now Chair of Goldman Sachs Australia, is Chair of Dor’s Board of Guardians.
Dor operates the Combatting Antisemitism Fund. 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.
Another sponsor with property connections is EG Funds, one of Australia’s largest independent real estate investment funds. Chairperson 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 International (AI) should be denied charity status because it had issued a report that Israel is an apartheid state.
Naumburger’s judgment that AI and its report were antisemitic was based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (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.
Sponsoring attendees
Late July, a letter from CAM to councils 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 did not receive 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 and conference materials.
MWM estimates the total costs to be well over $1 million.
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 $29.65 billion. He is a major donor to the JNF and a sponsor of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
The invitation offer 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.
[Yaakov Aharon and Wendy Bacon write for MichaelWest Media, where this article was first published.]