27 November 2007
The Sydney-based lawyer Robert Goot has been elected president of the umbrella body of Australian Jewry, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ). He succeeds Grahame Leonard, of Melbourne, who served a three-year term. The ECAJ presidency rotates between Sydney and Melbourne every two or three years.
The former president of Moriah College, Australia’s largest Jewish school, Goot has been involved in Jewish affairs since he was elected the youngest-ever president of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies in 1978 at the age of 30. He was appointed a member of the Order of Australia in 1988 for service to the Jewish community.
Goot’s election comes just two days after prime minister John Howard of the center-right Liberal Party was soundly beaten in the prime minister's election by Labor’s Kevin Rudd. Howard's government had been considered exceptionally close to the Jewish community and to Israel.
