The Jewish Independent is hosting Sir Mick Davis and Mike Prashker of The London Initiative (TLI) in collaboration with The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and the Great Synagogue in Sydney. This community-wide conversation purports to be one that will explore the future of Israel’s democracy and the role of the Jewish Diaspora in shaping it. 

However as the noted pro-Israel advocate Melanie Phillips has pointed out in an article titled 'Netanyahu Derangement Syndrome', the founders of the TLI are waging what amounts to a bitter campaign to attack Netanyahu, who Davis and Prashker claim has done nothing less than betray Zionism itself.

The big problem though is that the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) has bought into this charade and are endorsing it, while orthodox synagogues are hosting it.

I spoke with former ZFA president Danny Lamm about the political wrangling at the World Zionist Congress and how that links into this issue with the TLI. (0:27-21:48)

Furthermore I discussed the concerns over the TLI's visit to Australia with Tamir Aloni, who represents the Australian Jewish Association and with pro-Israel blogger Shane Shmuel, a guest on my show a couple of times recently. (21:54-43:53)

Also on the show I played an excerpt from a media briefing sponsored by Media Central in Israel that took place just prior to the UN Security Council resolution sponsored by the United States, which explicitly includes the term “Palestinian state,” sparking controversy and concern in Israel. (43:53-56:46)

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