Paul Barratt is a former Defence Department official. The following quote is from his post Passionate Supporters of Israel at http://aussieobserver.blogspot.com/:
"The Israelis are very good at duchessing people. I had been Secretary to the Department of Defence for only a few weeks when I received a visit from the late Sir Peter Abeles*, with the Israeli Defence Attache in tow. They had come in ostensibly to talk about the merits of Israeli missiles - not a very profitable use of their time or mine because we buy military material through open competitive tender, so however impressed I might be with the capacities of Israeli missiles, it was not going to make any difference to anything. The real purpose of the visit was dropped in right at the end. The Government of Israel would like to invite me to visit Israel, all expenses paid, and of course you must bring your wife, you will have a wonderful time. I thanked them politely and made a mental note that that was never going to happen; how could I as a public official place myself in the position of being beholden to a foreign government? A pity not all of our parliamentarians feel that way."
[*TNT & Ansett boss, 1924-1999: "It was in 1949... that the 25-year-old Peter Abeles migrated to Australia from Hungary. The following half century saw him amass a powerful fortune and powerful allies on both sides of the political fence... BOB HAWKE: 'I knew when I saw Sir Peter last night that I would not be seeing him again. He was obviously in the very last stages of a great life. I was able to put a kiss on his forehead and say goodbye'." (7.30 Report, 25/6/99)]
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