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'Isi Leibler has been a central player in the global Jewish arena for over six decades. The preeminent Australian Jewish leader, he was pivotal in driving the issue of Soviet Jewry onto the international agenda. And he played a crucial role in establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and China and India. As Australia emerged from Britain's shadow after WWII to punch above its diplomatic weight, so too Leibler propelled the Australian Jewish community into wielding disproportionate influence in global Jewish affairs. A key figure in the World Jewish Congress, he had no hesitation exposing corruption in its leadership or at the Holocaust Claims Conference. Pugnacious, colorful, principled, he befriended prime ministers, refuseniks, billionaires, Cold War warriors, Marxists, and diplomats to further the Jewish agenda, free Soviet Jews, support Israel, and fight antisemitism.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Garry Sturgess Review of Michael Gawenda, The Powerbroker : Mark Leibler, an Australian Jewish Life and of Suzanne Rutland, Lone Voice : The Wars of Isi Leibler
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , no. 6 2022; (p. 275-279)
— Review of The Powerbroker : Mark Leibler, an Australian Jewish Life 2020 single work biography ; Lone Voice : The Wars of Isi Leibler 2021 single work biography 'Separate biographies of two brothers appearing roughly contemporaneously are rare, and with both of them making a strong case for why each of their subjects, Isi Leibler (1934) and Mark Leibler (1943), should be regarded as the pre-eminent Australian Jewish leaders of their generation. The brothers’ sense of competition as they championed Jewish causes together, as rivals, separately and in different lands, inevitably framed the question of who has contributed more while obscuring the value of their joint efforts and the overall worth of the duumvirate. On antiSemitism, Zionism, Soviet Jewry, Cold War analysis, and international diplomacy, particularly centred on the United Nations (both as a proactive forum for raising issues or as an anti-Israel collective in need of reform), their legacy has been farreaching, transcending parochial communal issues to speak of larger concerns. Indeed, they are both regarded as influential Jewish leaders internationally. Isi, who died in 2020, was an independent and acute observer of Israeli politics, earning his right to criticise by picking up sticks and living in Jerusalem since 1998; Mark continues to speak out on Indigenous rights and recognition, and is an ever-present voice fighting anti-Semitism and its anti-Israel proxy. (Introduction) -
Original Influencer
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19 June 2021; (p. 15)
— Review of Lone Voice : The Wars of Isi Leibler 2021 single work biography'Isi Leibler was one of the most influential of all Australians in international politics, an unexpected role because he was never a parliamentarian, and never an ambassador nor top civil servant. He was also exceptional because his political base sprang from one of the nation’s smallest ethnic groups, the Jews.' (Introduction)
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Original Influencer
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19 June 2021; (p. 15)
— Review of Lone Voice : The Wars of Isi Leibler 2021 single work biography'Isi Leibler was one of the most influential of all Australians in international politics, an unexpected role because he was never a parliamentarian, and never an ambassador nor top civil servant. He was also exceptional because his political base sprang from one of the nation’s smallest ethnic groups, the Jews.' (Introduction)
-
Garry Sturgess Review of Michael Gawenda, The Powerbroker : Mark Leibler, an Australian Jewish Life and of Suzanne Rutland, Lone Voice : The Wars of Isi Leibler
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , no. 6 2022; (p. 275-279)
— Review of The Powerbroker : Mark Leibler, an Australian Jewish Life 2020 single work biography ; Lone Voice : The Wars of Isi Leibler 2021 single work biography 'Separate biographies of two brothers appearing roughly contemporaneously are rare, and with both of them making a strong case for why each of their subjects, Isi Leibler (1934) and Mark Leibler (1943), should be regarded as the pre-eminent Australian Jewish leaders of their generation. The brothers’ sense of competition as they championed Jewish causes together, as rivals, separately and in different lands, inevitably framed the question of who has contributed more while obscuring the value of their joint efforts and the overall worth of the duumvirate. On antiSemitism, Zionism, Soviet Jewry, Cold War analysis, and international diplomacy, particularly centred on the United Nations (both as a proactive forum for raising issues or as an anti-Israel collective in need of reform), their legacy has been farreaching, transcending parochial communal issues to speak of larger concerns. Indeed, they are both regarded as influential Jewish leaders internationally. Isi, who died in 2020, was an independent and acute observer of Israeli politics, earning his right to criticise by picking up sticks and living in Jerusalem since 1998; Mark continues to speak out on Indigenous rights and recognition, and is an ever-present voice fighting anti-Semitism and its anti-Israel proxy. (Introduction)
