According to Australian cabinet documents released for
publication this week, in the 1970s the Mossad prevented the
assassination of Bob Hawke, then a member of the Australian
Labor Party and later Prime Minister of Australia, along with
ranking members of the local Jewish community, including Isi
Leibler, a spokesman for the Jewish community, Sam Lipski, a
well-known journalist, and Israel's ambassador to
Australia.
The document shows that the Israeli Mossad warned Australian
intelligence that Palestinian terrorists had arrived in the
country to carry out the planned assassinations. Bob Hawke
was targeted by pro-Palestinian terrorist organizations at
the time due to his declarations of admiration and support
for Israel.
In September 1973 Abdullah Azzam, a member of the military
wing of Fatah, traveled to Melbourne. The Mossad notified the
local intelligence authorities that Azzam was a member of the
Black September group that had attacked the Israeli embassy
in Bangkok in 1972 and that he planned to carry out attacks
against Israeli and Jewish targets in Australia.
He was arrested by the local authorities for immigration
violations and deported immediately. At the same time the
Mossad told the Australians that another terrorist named
Munif Mohammed Abu Rish had arrived in their country in 1974
for three weeks posing as a reporter, to gather information
on Jewish targets in Sydney and Melbourne and that he was
planning to return in 1975 to assassinate the Israeli
ambassador.
Thanks to the Mossad's information, the Australians were able
to uncover a Palestinian terrorist group trying to recruit
volunteers among the local Muslims and Palestinians to carry
out the attacks. In 1974 a representative of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine arrived from Malaysia
to garner the support of the local Arab community in
Australia and to serve as a base for attacks in Southeast
Asia. Also 15 letter bombs addressed to Israeli diplomats and
Jewish community members were found at the post office.
Bob Hawke did not respond to the disclosure of these
incidents. Sam Lipski said that at the time he was not
informed that his life was in danger and he was surprised to
hear about it a few years ago. "I hope they were at least
protecting me without my knowledge," he said, adding that on
numerous occasions the Jewish community had been warned about
explosive packages that could arrive in the mail.
Ali Kazak, former Palestinian ambassador to Australia and the
Far East, denied the claims and accused the Mossad of libel
against the Palestinian people.
He said the Australian intelligence services acted without
verifying the information received from Israel. "The
Palestinians never had any intentions of bringing the Middle
East conflict to Australia," he said. "This is part of the
Mossad's campaign against us."
To this day, bechasdei Hashem terrorist groups have
not succeeded in carrying out attacks against the Jewish
community in Australia, which includes many Holocaust
survivors who sought a quiet place to rebuild their lives far
from the infernos of Europe and the difficult security
situation in the Middle East.
