Independent candidate Zoe Daniel’s upcoming attendance at Israel Independence Day celebrations stopped  

Outrage within Melbourne’s Jewish community over the independent attending upcoming Israel Independence Day celebrations grows.

Independent candidate for Goldstein Zoe Daniel. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Outrage within Melbourne’s Jewish community over independent candidate Zoe Daniel attending upcoming Israel Independence Day celebrations has resulted in a Shule stopping her and Liberal opponent Tim Wilson from taking part in the festivities.

The former ABC journalist was due to attend a local event on Shabbat on May 7 at the Blake Street Shule at Caulfield South to celebrate Israel’s national holiday, but serious concerns were raised after Ms Daniel recently refused to withdraw her signature from a controversial letter accusing Israel of maintaining an “apartheid regime against Palestinians”.

When The Australian contacted the Shule on Monday both Ms Daniel and Mr Wilson, the incumbent MP, were both due to attend the celebrations, but hours later they were both told they were no longer welcome.

Many members of the Jewish community remain furious Ms Daniel has refused to remove her signature from an open letter she signed in 2021 that states, “Israeli vigilante mobs attack Palestinians and the Netanyahu government has unleashed a new, brutal war against the besieged population of Gaza”.

Blake Street president Andrew Davis told The Australian, “the event that has been organised has developed an unintended political aspect”.

“The politicians who were to attend have agreed that the event will proceed as a celebration without their attendance,” he said.

Alex Goodman, one of the Shule’s founding members, said he was “concerned” that Ms Daniel was scheduled to attend the Israel Independence Day celebrations at any Shule, including his own.

“The main reason is her signing of the letter with other journalists to be blatantly biased against reporting on Israel and the false claim that Israel is apartheid which is totally offensive,” he told The Australian.

Mr Goodman also expressed his annoyance at Ms Daniel refusing to rescind her signature from the open letter she signed alongside dozens of other members of the media.

The Blake Street Shule committee held a meeting last week and discussed the concerns around Ms Daniel’s upcoming attendance.

It’s understood one of her supporters from the Jewish community initiated her attendance at the event.

The celebrations on Israel Independence Day mark the anniversary of the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.

The Goldstein electorate has a large Jewish population of 6.8 per cent, latest census data shows and the third largest Jewish population in Australia, behind Macnamara in Melbourne and Wentworth in Sydney.

Ms Daniel said she was looking forward to the event and “did not seek to politicise the event”.

“I have greatly enjoyed my many interactions - both formal and informal - with members of the Jewish community during this campaign,” she said.

Mr Wilson would not comment on the matter.

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein has repeatedly called for Ms Daniel to “remove her signature and renounce the “Do Better on Palestine” letter.

The letter said “the coverage of Palestine must be improved” and “consciously and deliberately make space for Palestinian perspectives, prioritising the voices of those most affected by the violence”.

Ms Daniel was also forced to apologise recently after a series of controversial comments were made from her campaign manager Sue Barrett who used social media in 2020 to post: “Hitler altered reality with drugs and (Scott) Morrison uses religion”.

Mr Rubenstein said it was “disappointing” Ms Daniel’s campaign was “attracting the type of people who would make very offensive comments, which at the very least should concern not only the large Jewish populations in these electorates, but these communities as a whole”.

The Zionist Federation of Australia’s president Jeremy Leiber said, “If Zoe Daniel is serious about engaging with the Jewish community, she needs to formally withdraw her signature from that letter.”

“Her excuses and qualifications are only making her relationship with the community more difficult.”