Looks like American Jews aren’t the only ones who spend the aftermath of an election counting how many Jews were voted into office. Apparently, they do the same thing Down Under.
From the Australian Jewish News:
FOR the first time in more than 75 years, at least two Jews will serve in the Victorian Government, with the fate of a third still hanging in the balance.
The Labor Party’s Marsha Thomson, the former minister for information and communications tech-nology, and Upper House newcomer Martin Pakula both had convincing wins at Saturday’s state election…
What’s behind this political Jew-counting? Is it tribal pride? Or does it come from a view that Jews are a special interest group? Or is potential Israel-support what’s really being highlighted? In this case, the latter certainly seems to be part of it:
Among her Jewish communal ambitions, Thomson, whose parents married in Israel, said she would like to increase her involvement with the National Council of Jewish Women and WIZO, and work with the State Zionist Council of Victoria. She visited Israel for the first time earlier this year.
No matter how much Jews hate to hear the “dual loyalty” accusation thrown around, voting in a domestic election with another country in mind is seriously complicated. I’d love to see some honest communal dialogue about this.
