Posted on 02/16/2003 3:29:17 PM PST by knighthawk
THE speaker is a young Israeli, a tall lantern-jawed, friendly young man, and his is a view I heard every day for a week in Israel.
The Prime Minister may be having his troubles at home, but there is one country where he would win a popularity contest in a canter.
The Howard position on Iraq, after decades of support for the Jewish state, has made him a pin-up star in Israel.
I didn't go to Israel looking for Howard, but he was everywhere - on television with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, with his parliamentary speech on Iraq used as an opinion piece, on TV again with British Prime Minister Tony Blair - and his praises were sung by government and opposition, conservative and liberal, young and old.
Israel's Foreign Minister and former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party, said: "I think the position Howard's Government has taken is the right one. It's principled and clear and has the combination of prudence and boldness that's required."
But don't think Howard's star shines only with the Israeli Right.
Former Labour prime minister and foreign minister Shimon Peres, the august dove of Israeli politics, was even more glowing than Netanyahu.
In his Tel Aviv office, he offered a reading of the Australian PM that would make Tony Abbott blush.
"There are really two types of politicians - those who are concerned mainly with image, and those who are concerned with character," Mr Peres said. "John Howard is a politician of real character.
"Australia has never been afraid to defend freedom. Australia chose, and it was the right choice."
Significantly, Mr Peres does not believe Australia's role in the campaign against Iraq will make it more likely to be a terrorist target.
"It will not change Australia's risk level," he said. "If Australia does nothing it is still a terrorist target."
Israel may be the one place outside Washington and Whitehall where Australia the nation, and Australia's Government, are widely popular.
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert recalls his 12 days at the Sydney Olympics as a golden time. Like other Israelis, he showers praise on the Howard Government and its leader: "I share and support the views of John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia. I believe this (the disarmament of Iraq) is inescapable."
Labour Party leader Avram Mitzna sees the Howard Government's leadership on Iraq as part of a long tradition of Australian internationalism.
"Australia for many years, despite its geographic position, has felt intimately a part of many peacekeeping operations and many other things," Mr Mitzna said. "It's position is very appreciated."
There are 10,000 Australian Israelis, and they are popular.
I went to see one, Isi Leibler, the founder of Jetset Travel, and a one-time major panjandrum in the Australian Jewish community, who now lives in an apartment in the centre of Jerusalem.
He has the grandest assessment of Howard of anyone: "I think this little guy is going to come out of all this as a real man of history," Leibler said.
"I think he's been absolutely outstanding on this."
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