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Prominent Australian Leader Attacks Maccabi World Union in the Knesset
Mr Peter Wertheim, President of the New South Wales Jewish Board of
Deputies and a Vice-President of the Executive Council of Australian
Jewry
launched a wide-ranging attack upon the way Maccabi World Union (MWU)
has
handled the aftermath of the Maccabiah Bridge Disaster which occurred
in
Israel on 14 July 1997 at the opening of the 15th Maccabiah Games
organised by MWU.
Appearing at the first meeting of the Knesset's re-established Special
Committee in the matter of the Maccabiah Bridge Disaster on December
29,
1999, before committee Chair MK Motti Zanberg, Mr Wertheim described
the
impact of the tragedy on the Australian Jewish Community. "It is
often
said that when an Israeli soldier dies in battle the whole of Israel
feels
the pain and the grief. That is precisely how the Australian Jewish
Community experienced the disastrous bridge collapse at the 15th
Maccabiah
Games." Mr Wertheim noted that there had been an outpouring of
sympathy
and support for the victims "from thousands of Australians of many
different religious and ethnic backgrounds, including political and
communal leaders, religious leaders and sporting identities ... the
bridge tragedy and its aftermath are a concern not only to the Jewish
Community in Australia, but to the people of Australia as a whole".
Mr Wertheim cited a long list of grievances of the Australian
Community
against MWU and in particular, slammed MWU for not taking proper
responsibility for the Disaster and for the failure of the MWU
leadership
to stand down from their positions. Mr Wertheim stated: "Messrs
Bakarlaz
and Netanel failed in their moral responsibility to the athletes whom they
themselves had invited to participate in the 15th Maccabiah Games in
Israel ... The organisation of the Games was a penny-pinching exercise
from beginning to end. In order to save money, an inadequate bridge was
built and inadequate insurance cover was arranged for the athletes. For
the MWU leadership, saving money was a higher priority than the lives and
safety of the athletes who were in their care as their invited guests ".
Mr Wertheim listed twenty reasons why the Australian Community is at odds
with MWU. He said that the Community has demanded three things of the
MWU:
(i) the standing down of its President and its Chairman, Messrs Bakalarz
and Netanel from their respective positions, pending the outcome of this
Knesset Committee of Inquiry and the full co-operation of the MWU
leadership with the inquiry;
Mr Wertheim told the Knesset: "The position of the official roof-bodies
of Australian Jewry continues to be that our community will not
participate at the next Games unless the demands I have outlined are
satisfied". He then asked: "How can any Australian Jewish leader, in
good conscience, tell our community that all reasonable steps have been
taken to ensure the safety of the next Maccabiah Games if the same people
who were in leadership positions in the MWU at the time of the Bridge
Disaster are still holding those same positions"?
Mr Wertheim went on to tell the Knesset Committee that the Maccabiah
Bridge tragedy also has implications for the Sydney Olympic Games. Mr
Wertheim urged that the Olympic Committee of Israel not to include in its
delegation any individual who is an executive member of MWU or is
otherwise associated with the MWU leadership. Mr Wertheim told the
Knesset: "To our knowledge, only one member of the Olympic Committee of
Israel would fall into this category, Mr Zvi Varshaviak. We have nothing
personal against Mr Varshaviak, but for all the reasons I have stated it
would be insensitive in the extreme for the Olympic Committee of Israel to
include him in any delegation to Australia...any MWU official who is
included in the Israel Olympic Committee delegation to Australia will
almost certainly not be acknowledged or welcomed in any way by the
official leaders of the Australian Jewish Community or the leaders of
their State constituent bodies. It is also likely in my view, that the
government of New South Wales (the State in which the Olympics will be
held) is aware of, and will respect, the Australian Jewish Community's
feelings towards the MWU leadership".
Mr Wertheim also told the Knesset that "the stress of the victims and
their families and of the community of which they are a part has been
greatly aggravated by the obtuseness and insensitivity of the MWU
leadership. They have continued to give a higher priority to their own
interests and privileges than to the lives and the wellbeing of those to
whom they owe a duty of care".
Mr Wertheim concluded by saying ..."The respect and affection of the
Australian Jewish Community for the State of Israel is undiminished. It
is for this reason that our community looks to the basic institutions of
Israeli society, namely the Knesset and the Courts, in the hope that we
will at long last find justice".
In response MK Nomi Chazan said, "There were two tragedies here. One was
the collapse of the bridge and two was the management of the aftermath. If
we don't work quickly to resolve this we will be part of the second
tragedy."
Irwin Cotler, a member of the Canadian Parliament and participant in the
tragic games as a member of the Canadian delegation, urged the Committee
to work to repair the rift created between Israel and the Diaspora in the
aftermath of this tragedy, "The adverse effect of the disaster is not
limited to Australians and the Australian Jewish community but has
resonated to the Diaspora as a whole, including Cananda.
Also present at the meeting was Shuki Dekel, Head of the Israeli Sports
Commission who stated that he thinks, "the catastrophe of the Maccabiah is
the biggest tragedy of Israeli sport. The Committee must repair relations
between Israel and Australia before the upcoming Olympic Games."
Click here to read full text
of
30 December 1999
(ii) the payment of just compensation to the
victims;
(iii) a review of safety and operational procedures for future
Games.
STATEMENT OF PETER WERTHEIM, PRESIDENT OF THE NSW JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES
TO THE INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE KNESSET INTO THE MACCABIAH BRIDGE
DISASTER
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