On Tuesday 15th April, 6:30pm, Free Palestine Melbourne and Muslim Votes Matter are hosting a joint Justice at the Ballot Box forum of political candidates and community leaders at Schoolhouse Studios in Coburg.
The Albanese government stands accused of abandoning Israel at its darkest hour in a historic betrayal of Jews, the national interest and the ALP’s best traditions, with an anguished intervention by two of the nation’s most prominent Jewish leaders days before the anniversary of the October 7 massacre.
In unflinching critiques of Anthony Albanese’s policy on Israel and its fight against Iran and its terrorist proxies, respected lawyer Mark Leibler and former treasurer Josh Frydenberg warn Labor is refusing to take a position in “a battle of good versus evil”, creating a leadership vacuum that has allowed an “explosion of anti-Semitism”.
Mr Leibler, a social justice campaigner, and Mr Frydenberg, who was the country’s highest-ranked Jewish MP, say the government’s refusal to support Israel stands in contrast to 70 years of bipartisanship and “moral clarity” from prime ministers from Robert Menzies to Scott Morrison.
Their comments, as the nation prepares for a weekend of mourning and a raft of anti-Israeli protests, are the strongest criticism yet by the nation’s Jewish community of the government’s handling of the October 7 aftermath.
Mr Leibler, a key ally of the Prime Minister in his failed Indigenous voice campaign, writes in The Weekend Australian that the government’s actions since the Hamas attack have been “at best confused and at worst driven by domestic political considerations”, undermining social cohesion and leaving Jews across the nation feeling abandoned. Mr Frydenberg will stand in front of Melbourne’s Jewish community at an October 7 memorial service on Monday and accuse the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Penny Wong of failing a crucial leadership test in their response to the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. “On the very same day of the October 7 attack, with the blood of the innocent victims not even dry, Foreign Minister Penny Wong was calling for Israel’s restraint,” Mr Frydenberg will say.
“Since then she has led pious calls for a ceasefire which in the absence of Hamas’s defeat would only lead them to regroup and in their own words go again.”
Mr Frydenberg will say that such horrific events should bring “moral clarity from our leaders but here in Australia the opposite has been the case”, according to an advance copy of his speech.
“Australia’s response has been characterised by double speak and equivocation with the government unable to stake out a clear moral position and hold it with conviction.
“The result has been to project weakness abroad and create a leadership vacuum at home.”
Their comments come as Mr Albanese refuses to explicitly endorse Israel’s promised military response against Iran’s missile attack this week, and rejects Coalition calls to expel Iran’s top diplomat in Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, after he hailed slain Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah as a “remarkable leader”.
As police give the green light for a series of anti-Israel protests in coming days including one by extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, the 80-year-old Mr Leibler writes of his alarm at the surging hatred of Jews in Australia since the massacre of more than 1200 Israelis.
“Despite our long history of oppression, I never imagined the explosion of anti-Semitism, especially at a time of such anguish and especially here in Australia, where my parents were provided refuge from the Nazis. The friends who would stop returning my calls,” he says.
Mr Leibler, a co-founder of top law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, says he is dismayed and disappointed in Australia’s foreign policy stance in the past six months, as Australia has thrown its support behind Palestinian statehood ahead of any peace settlement.
“On the one hand, our Foreign Minister consistently has said that terrorists have no role in a future two-state solution, that the hostages must be returned and that Israel has the right to defend itself,” he writes.
“But the government seems to oppose almost every action Israel takes to do so.
“How can Australia call for a ceasefire while Hezbollah and Iran are firing rockets into Israel? While Hamas is still in power in Gaza, still holding more than 60 hostages and keeping more than 60,000 Israelis displaced from their homes?”
Mr Leibler says “the overwhelming majority of Jewish Australians” now question whether the nation’s bipartisan commitment to Israel will survive, and compares the Albanese government’s position on Israel with the staunch support of Labor government’s from Bob Hawke to Julia Gillard.
Is Israel waging a just war? Israel’s military attack on Iran will be, ethically and politically, its most straightforward military action. Iran has repeatedly attacked Israel, twice this year firing hundreds of missiles, rockets and drones at Israel, and sponsors relentless terrorism and rocket attacks at Israel by its proxies, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel gets much moralistic grief in Western media and the Muslim world for its actions against Hezbollah and Hamas.
Our own Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, keeps making speeches implying Israel is breaking international law. After condemning the Hamas terrorism against Israel on October 7 last year, Wong told the UN General Assembly that Israel had killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and “this must end”.
In a sentence directed at Israel, she declared: “War has rules. Every country in this room must abide by them. Even when confronting terrorists. Even when defending borders.”
There was a lot more anti-Israel stuff in this speech, which is part of the pattern of the Albanese government effectively reversing Australia’s longstanding, formerly bipartisan support for Israel.
Other government ministers have made similar arguments. Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic, who often seems to run his own foreign policy independent of the government, suggested Australia should be open to applying sanctions against Jerusalem. Education Minister Jason Clare accuses Israel of war crimes.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles was so intent on proving to the Greens that Australia didn’t provide arms to Israel, and wouldn’t do so, that he seemed almost to be proclaiming an arms embargo on the Jewish state. Taking political doublespeak to a sublime fatuousness, he claimed Australia’s involvement in the global supply chain of F-35 fighter aircraft, which Israel, like Australia, as a US ally, uses in its air force, was restricted to “non-lethal parts”.
The F-35, the primary fifth-generation fighter aircraft, is intensely lethal and Israel has been using it, with its Australian parts, in Lebanon.
But my focus here is a bit narrower. The implication in Wong’s words, and the words of so many Labor ministers, is that Israel is not waging a just war and is breaching the rules of war.
Is this true? Is the war Israel is involved in a just war at all, and is Israel prosecuting it within the rules of war?
No one in the ALP knows anywhere near as much about this as Mike Kelly. He was a career soldier for 20 years, becoming a colonel, then in the reserves. He was an army lawyer trained in the laws of war, in theory and practice. He served in difficult theatres including Iraq, Somalia, East Timor and Kenya, and completed a PhD examining the laws of war in military occupations. In 2007 he entered politics as Labor member for Eden-Monaro.
He served as a minister in the Rudd-Gillard governments. Kevin Rudd chose Kelly to replace Stephen Smith as defence minister, but Labor lost the 2013 election. Bill Shorten chose Kelly to be his defence minister, but Labor lost in 2019.
An alert Labor government would surely look to Kelly for advice. If the Albanese government has done so, it doesn’t seem to be following that advice, for Kelly told me: “There’s no doubt in my mind – Israel has not breached the rules of law in armed conflict. There’s no evidence they’ve done so.”
Kelly points to five factors in forming his judgment: the extreme difficulty of war in an urban environment; the way Hamas and Hezbollah have shaped the battlefield to maximise civilian casualties; the extensive efforts the Israeli military undertakes to avoid or minimise civilian casualties; Israel had to confront Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s total of 50,000 armed fighters in Gaza, a huge force; and the acute, urgent, existential threat Israel faces from the combined efforts of its enemies.
Consider some other sources. Major General Jim Molan, who was our most experienced modern general in warfare, was part of a 2015 inquiry into whether Israel, in its campaign in Gaza in 2014, acted within the rules of law. The inquiry found Israel’s actions “lawful” and “legitimate”. Molan said at the time the Israelis “held off for as long as they could in the face of provocation that represents war crimes, in my view”. Molan believed Israel compared well in its conduct with other Western militaries.
John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at West Point in the US, recently offered this judgment: “Everything that the world has heard about Gaza has been counterfactual. It has been wrong. What Israel has done to protect civilians, and despite what Hamas has wanted, has been an amazing achievement that I didn’t even personally, as an urban warfare scholar, think was possible.”
Our former chief of the defence force, Mark Binskin, inquired into the tragic accidental killing of seven aid workers, including an Australian, in Gaza. He was given full co-operation by the Israelis and said their investigation, reporting and responding were overall timely, appropriate and sufficient. He said the Israel Defence Forces’s approach to targeting decisions “are the same as the Australian Defence Force would likely be concerned with in similar circumstances”. He also said the IDF quickly held its people to account for mistakes or wrongdoing.
It’s possible, of course, to quote a thousand anti-Israel sources on the same issues. Many, however, start with anti-Israel bias, even a deep hostility to Israel, often enough the view that Israel is an inherently illegitimate state, intrinsically wicked.
What you see instead from the work of Kelly, Molan, Spencer and Binskin, and so many others, is a picture of Israel as a democratic and ethical nation thrust permanently into a maddening and impossible environment of constant threat and relentless attack.
The late Jim Molan’s work and that of many others, portrays Israel as an ethical nation thrust into an impossible environment of constant threat and relentless attack. Picture: News Corp
The late Jim Molan’s work and that of many others, portrays Israel as an ethical nation thrust into an impossible environment of constant threat and relentless attack. Picture: News Corp
None of this is to diminish the tragic loss of innocent civilian life in Gaza and Lebanon. The moral responsibility for that rests entirely with Hamas, Hezbollah and their masters in Iran who designed the situation to produce civilian casualties as a way of mobilising global opinion against Israel.
As is always the case, Israel is being asked to live up to impossible standards, then condemned as barbaric for self-defence. Disturbingly, the idea of national self-defence, in principle and in practice, is going out of fashion among several key elites in the West – academics, NGOs, some international relations practitioners, even some religious leaders.
The foundation of all ethical thinking in Western civilisation on how to act decently when armed conflict is inevitable, how to subject it to moral restraint, how a good person, and a good state, can act in war, is the just war theory. Other traditions have their versions of this, but in Western civilisation the just war theory was developed mainly within Christian thought.
In what I think a tragic misstep, many church leaders are edging away from just war theory. Thus the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference recently issued their social justice statement for 2024-25. Entitled Truth and Peace, it considers war and conflict. It’s pretty good because it mainly concerns God. War arises from the absence of God in human lives. Bishops know a lot about God but are more fallible on geopolitics. So it’s very good to see them concentrating on humanity’s relationship to God.
However, there’s a glaring omission. There’s no mention of just war theory, which is one of the magnificent achievements of Christian intellectual and moral endeavour. Barack Obama cited it in his Nobel Peace Prize speech. It’s not a theory to justify war but to restrain war and guide human beings in the most difficult circumstances they’ll encounter.
Under Pope Francis, church leaders have drifted away from just war theory. San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy, a close supporter of Francis, recently said the use of just war theory to justify war “is a major problem”; the church should emphasise non-violence instead.
In the real world the problem arises when the other guy, or the other nation, has no interest in non-violence. Do you let Islamic State slaughter the Yazidis on a mountainside, murder the men, rape the women, enslave the children, because you’re attached to non-violence? Do you let an intruder kill your spouse rather than act violently yourself?
Until recently, just war theory was a central part of Catholic and broader Christian teaching. In his World Day of Peace statement in 1982, Pope John Paul II, surely one of the greatest popes, observed: “people have a right and even a duty to protect their existence and freedom by proportionate means against any unjust aggressor”. Pope Paul VI, in his 1976 World Day of Peace message, said: “Disarmament is either for everyone, or it is a crime of neglect to defend oneself.”
Just war theory remains official Catholic doctrine. The Catechism of the Catholic Church rejects pacifism and says it’s right to defend your own life and a “grave duty” to defend the lives of others for whom you have responsibility.
It lays out the conditions for just war. To paraphrase, these are: the threat you’re countering must be serious; all means other than war must be exhausted; there must be a prospect of success; the effect of your actions must not create more harm than they’re trying to prevent. This last is the principle of proportionality, which applies whenever force is legitimately used. Thus, if a nation invades a small part of your territory, you’re not entitled to annihilate it with nuclear weapons.
Within a just war, there are serious restraints on conduct. You mustn’t deliberately target civilians (though civilians can be unintended casualties of a military strike). You must treat prisoners of war with respect for their human dignity. Various types of weapons are outlawed. Much of this has been codified in the Geneva Conventions.
In my last book, Christians, I interviewed General Sir Peter Cosgrove about his experience as a fighting platoon commander in the Vietnam war and the challenge of war to a believing Christian. He recalled that in combat he was frequently, spontaneously, unselfconsciously in prayer and that: “There was no thought of privileging a Christian over a non-Christian … There was sadness at the sight of (enemy) dead people. They are human beings, they have families too. Not remorse, because you’d done what your country asked you to, but sadness.”
Jesus doesn’t mandate pacifism in the Gospels. He calls no soldier to renounce his profession. He certainly called his followers to love their enemies, but Jesus himself used force to throw money changers out of the temple. Pacifism is a moral option personally, but not for a community or government. Early Christians welcomed soldiers to the faith. Just war theory got its earliest profound consideration from St Augustine in the 4th century. He wanted Roman soldiers to protect Christian villages. That involved deadly force, to preserve life and order. That needed theological understanding.
If church leaders ever move definitively away from just war theory it won’t be a case of asking society to live more ethically, rather just abandoning Christian guidance in an inevitable trauma of human life, like saying we don’t believe in crime so we won’t talk about police.
Already Western societies are inclined to place impossible demands and restrictions on soldiers that lead only to greater death and injustice. Bad actors fight as they like, good actors can’t effectively fight at all. Israel is the chief victim of this thinking.
Paradoxically, no one understands these dynamics better than Islamist enemies of the West and of Israel. The sheer performative sadism, grotesque tortures and ultra sexualised violence of the Hamas atrocities were a sign of the terrorists’ personal depravity, but they were also a deliberate act of strategic policy.
A woman views the images of the victims killed or kidnapped from the Supernova music festival during the October 7 attacks. Picture: AFP
A woman views the images of the victims killed or kidnapped from the Supernova music festival during the October 7 attacks. Picture: AFP
Hamas designed its torture theatre not only to harm and distress, but to force a strong Israeli response, inevitably at the expense of the Palestinian civilians whose welfare Hamas so obviously holds in contempt. It entirely subordinates their welfare to Hamas’s religious hatred of Israel and Jews.
The strategic pay-off, as Kelly tells me, lies in the fact Iran and its proxies are not only waging a physical and psychological war against Israel, but above all they’re waging an information war against Israel.
Iran and its allies China and Russia are extremely active on social media and through human agents in the politics of Western societies. The Iranian government has pumped money into anti-Israel demonstrations and activism against Israel in the US and other societies, probably including Australia. All three ruthless dictatorships routinely work, hard and extensively, to push key messages through social media: the US is in decline; Western societies are decadent, violent and unsafe; the West is consumed with racial hatred; Israel has a murderous hostility to all Muslims (this is fantastic nonsense given 20 per cent of Israeli citizens are Arabs) and so on.
Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah constantly break all the laws of warfare. They routinely attack civilians and proclaim their desire to wipe Israel off the map. Hamas could end Gazan suffering any time by releasing Israeli hostages. But with Hezbollah they intentionally create an environment that provides the greatest ethical and moral difficulties for Israel in conducting the just military actions necessary to its survival.
They routinely repress, coerce, intimidate, persecute and murder anyone in their own societies who opposes their aims, and ensure that war is conducted in the middle of their civilians. Israel’s choice is surrender to the death of a million atrocities or conduct war in operationally and morally messy environments.
This is where proportionality comes in. It’s not the least fatuous element of Wong’s recent speeches on Israel that she laments there has been no Palestinian state established even though the UN provided for it 77 years ago. The fraudulent implication is that Israel has prevented this.
But when territory was first divided into an Arab and a Jewish state, Israel accepted this. The surrounding Arab armies and the resident Palestinians rejected it and launched a war of annihilation against Israel. Had the Arab world accepted that state, it would have been much bigger than the West Bank and Gaza of today.
Three times since then Israel has offered a Palestinian state on generous terms, only to be met by rejection and murderous terrorism. Several times in its short existence Israel has had to fight conventional wars of national survival, as in the Yom Kippur war of 1973. And now Iran, five minutes away from possessing nuclear weapons, proclaims its sacred mission of wiping Israel off the map while organising terror and missile strikes from every point on Israel’s border.
So to measure the proportionality of Israel’s response, think not just of 1200 murdered brutally, or 250 hostages, but think of a credible, proximate, desperate threat of annihilation of the world’s only Jewish state.
That the Albanese government has not grasped any of this, shows no understanding of the history, has turned so foolishly and nastily against Israel, Australia’s close friend these many decades, and at a time when much of the world is turning against Jerusalem and Jews, and friends should count for something, underlines that as well as failing in strategic policy, and geopolitical coherence, the Labor government has failed, more than anything, morally.
In short:
Israel has been accused of destroying Gaza’s health care system through “relentless and deliberate attacks”.
A UN commission also accused both sides of torturing and sexually abusing Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages.
What’s next?
The International Court of Justice is investigating allegations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, and the International Criminal Court is considering arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders.
A UN commission has accused Israel of destroying Gaza’s health care system through “relentless and deliberate attacks” in its yearlong war with Hamas and said that Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages have been tortured and sexually abused.
The expert panel was commissioned in 2021 by the UN-backed Human Rights Council to look into rights violations and abuses in Israel and the Palestinian areas it controls. Led by Navi Pillay, a former UN human rights chief, the panel members are independent experts and do not speak for the world body.
Israel said it firmly rejected the allegations, in a statement from its mission in Geneva.
“This latest report is another blatant attempt by the CoI to de-legitimise the very existence of the State of Israel and obstruct its right to protect its population, while covering up the crimes of terrorist organisations.
“This report shamelessly portrays Israel’s operations in terror-infested health facilities in Gaza as a matter of policy against Gaza’s health system, while entirely dismissing overwhelming evidence that medical facilities in Gaza have been systematically used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad for terrorist activities,” it said.
Israel also rejected accusations of widespread and systematic abuse of Palestinian detainees, amounting to the war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Israel is fully committed to international legal standards regarding the treatment of detainees. This includes prohibition of excessive use of force and ill-treatment,” the mission said.
It accused the commission of creating an “alternate reality”, and thereby contributing to “the exacerbation of this conflict”.
“We call on states to speak out against this prejudiced approach, which only serves to further stain the credibility of the Human Rights Council and the United Nations at large.”
Israeli forces have raided hospitals in Gaza on several occasions, accusing militants of sheltering there. Palestinian medical officials have denied such allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering civilians. Hospitals can lose their protection under international law if they are used for military purposes.
The report accused Israel of deliberately killing, detaining and torturing Palestinian medical staff, of targeting their vehicles and of restricting permits for medical evacuations from Gaza. It said those amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Israel must immediately stop its unprecedented wanton destruction of health care facilities in Gaza,” Ms Pillay said in a statement. “By targeting health care facilities, Israel is targeting the right to health itself with significant long-term detrimental effects on the civilian population.”
The commission said children have borne much of the cost of such actions, pointing to attacks on medical facilities offering paediatric and neonatal care.
The panel also said it found that thousands of adults and children detained in Gaza had been subjected to “widespread and systematic abuse, physical and psychological violence, and sexual and gender-based violence”.
It said Israeli security forces had raped male detainees, attacked their genitals and forced them to perform humiliating or strenuous acts while stripped naked. It said children who had been detained had returned to Gaza unaccompanied and deeply traumatised.
The commission further said the abuse had been institutionalised by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. He has boasted of making conditions in the country’s prisons as harsh as possible under Israeli law in what he says is an attempt to deter militant attacks.
Israel detained nine soldiers in July over what their defence lawyer said were allegations of sexual abuse of a detainee being held at a shadowy facility where detainees from Gaza have been taken since the start of the war. The lawyer denied the allegations, and their arrest sparked protests by Israeli hard-liners.
How Hiba’s life changed over a year of ‘hell’
Photo shows A teen girl sitting in front of a pink wall A teen girl sitting in front of a pink wall
Now 13, Hiba dreams of being able to go to school, like other girls her age. Instead she sits on the side of the road, surrounded by bombed and broken houses, selling handmade bracelets.
The commission also said that hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza were subjected to physical and sexual violence, forced isolation and threats, and given limited access to water, food and hygiene facilities. It said Palestinian armed groups were also guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and called on them to immediately release all the hostages.
Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. They are still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90 per cent of its population of 2.3 million people.
The International Court of Justice is investigating allegations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, and the International Criminal Court is considering arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders. Israel has adamantly denied the accusations and says it abides by international law.
AP/AFP
It’s been a year of division from Labor, the Coalition and the Greens in their response to the 7 October attacks by Hamas and Israel’s retaliation. Here’s a timeline.
The past year in Australian politics has been marked by division over how to respond to the 7 October Hamas attacks and Israel’s assault on Gaza – with no shortage of accusations about who is politicising the conflict.
Those divisions came to a head this week when Peter Dutton’s Coalition refused to support a parliamentary motion marking the first anniversary of 7 October because it also included calls for regional de-escalation and a ceasefire.
Explore this timeline to find out how the Labor government, Coalition opposition and Greens have responded to key events over the past 12 months.
‘The world demands a ceasefire in Gaza,’ Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong tells UN – video
Hamas attacks Israel; Israel launches airstrikes on Gaza
Penny Wong, foreign affairs minister
7 October 2023
“Australia unequivocally condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas including indiscriminate rocket fire on cities and civilians. We call for these attacks to stop and recognise Israel’s right to defend itself. Australia urges the exercise of restraint and protection of civilian lives.”
Peter Dutton, opposition leader
7 October 2023
“When people talk about Israel having to show restraint, it’s completely and utterly the wrong time for that sort of language … I think it’s important for us to speak in a bipartisan way, but the Coalition won’t be using any language about restraint from the Israeli people at the moment. Their focus is on defeating this scourge and making sure that they can recover their citizens.”
Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens
11 October 2023
“The premeditated targeting of civilians by Hamas is a war crime, as is the bombing of Palestinian civilians by the state of Israel. All perpetrators of war crimes in this conflict must be held to account for their actions in accordance with international law. The Greens condemn the attacks and we condemn the occupation.”
Labor and Coalition back a parliamentary motion, Greens dissent
Anthony Albanese, prime minister
16 October 2023
“This was not just an attack on Israel. This was an attack on Jewish people. Let us be clear: Hamas is an enemy, but not just of Israel. Hamas is an enemy of all peace-loving Palestinian people who are left to pay a devastating price for this terrorism. Hamas honours no faith. It serves no cause but terror. It is no better than any other group in history that has clung to the twisted belief that victory can be built on the blood of the innocent … There is no question that Israel has the right to defend itself against a terrorist organisation and to take strong action against it, but we join the calls of President Biden and other partners for Israel to operate by the rules of war.”
Peter Dutton, opposition leader
16 October 2023
“The Coalition joins with every other person of decent humanity in condemning this attack by Hamas militants on Israel. Israel has every right to exist. Israel has every right to defend itself and its people. Israel has every right to deter future attacks and other acts of aggression, of coercion and of interference. The Coalition supports, and proudly supports, Israel’s right to do what is necessary and needed in the circumstances, with every asset available to safeguard its sovereignty, to bolster its borders, to protect its people and to thwart the threats it now faces – the existential threats. There must be no restraint shown to those who have shown no restraint themselves in committing these vicious and vile acts of terrorism.”
Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens
16 October 2023
“This looming humanitarian catastrophe is something that Australia should be joining other countries in trying everything we can to stop. We join with everyone in this parliament in mourning the 1,300 Israelis* who have lost their lives, but on today’s count there are also between 2,300 and 2,600 Palestinians who have lost their lives, many of who are children. And we mourn them as well. This is now moving beyond self-defence into an invasion, and it is up to Australia as a peace-loving country to join the push to stop it. No to antisemitism, no to Islamophobia and no to the war on Gaza.” * The Israeli death toll was later updated to be about 1,200 killed
Australia votes at the UN for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and release of hostages.
Penny Wong, foreign minister
13 December 2023
“Australia shares the grave concerns that I have articulated previously about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. Human suffering is widespread, and it is unacceptable … This is a collective statement about the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that the world is supporting. So, this is not a unilateral decision by Australia. We made a decision on the basis of the merits of this resolution to join along with many other countries to support the resolution at the General Assembly.”
Simon Birmingham, Coalition foreign affairs spokesperson
13 December 2023
“War is terrible, and I grieve for absolutely every single life that is lost that is an innocent civilian, particularly those of children. But the reality is, if Israel just adopts the ceasefire that Anthony Albanese has now voted for, it will just give Hamas opportunity to re-arm, regroup and repeat. The terrorist atrocities all over again.”
Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens
13 December 2023
“It’s not a ceasefire until the bombs stop dropping. The PM must fight like hell to make this ceasefire call a permanent reality. Not a pause before the slaughter starts again. A genuine, permanent ceasefire.”
South Africa initiates genocide proceedings against Israel at the international court of justice
Penny Wong, foreign affairs minister
16 January 2024
“Our support for the ICJ and respect for its independence does not mean we accept the premise of South Africa’s case. We will continue to work for a just and enduring peace between Israelis and Palestinians. I would note Australia is not currently a party to the case and that at this stage the ICJ has not invited interventions from other parties.”
Simon Birmingham, Coalition foreign affairs spokesperson
5 January 2024
“The Albanese government should rule out supporting South Africa’s unbalanced application against Israel to the ICJ. Mr Albanese has been wildly inconsistent in the positions his government has taken, with Labor deeply divided. Australia should maintain a strong commitment in support of Israel’s inherent right to self-defence after Hamas’s horrific targeting of civilians, while continuing to expect Israel to act with regard to international law.”
Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the Greens
18 January 2024
“Australia must publicly support South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the international court of justice. The world is watching and Australians are demanding that Anthony Albanese put politics aside, show some guts and be remembered on the right side of history.”
Australia pauses funding to Unrwa after Israel accuses 12 staff of involvement in 7 October attacks
Penny Wong, foreign affairs minister
27 January 2024
“Australia is deeply concerned by allegations Unrwa staff may have been involved in the abhorrent October 7 terror attacks. We welcome Unrwa’s immediate response, including terminating contracts and launching an investigation, as well as its recent announcement of a full investigation into allegations against the organisation.”
Peter Dutton, opposition leader
1 February 2024
“If she’s knowingly sent that money to a terrorist organisation, then I think that is an outrage, and I think Penny Wong and the prime minister have more questions than answers in relation to this particular issue.”
Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the Greens
29 January 2024
“The Labor government’s blatant hypocrisy is on full display – suspending funding to Unrwa while Palestinians are being killed, starved and displaced, but not so much as a slap on the wrist for Israel which is on a genocidal mission.”
Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom is killed in Gaza
Anthony Albanese, prime minister
4 April 2024
“People would have seen the footage of the vehicle that was hit in this strike by an Israeli missile that clearly is identified as being from the World Central Kitchen. These vehicles were going about carrying the best of humanity, people who’d come from all over the world to help Palestinians who are suffering from extraordinary deprivation in Gaza. And for them to lose their life in these circumstances is outrageous and completely unacceptable. Humanitarian workers are protected under international law. And the Netanyahu government must publish a full and transparent investigation. And they must be held accountable.”
Simon Birmingham, Coalition foreign affairs spokesperson
7 April 2024
“This is a tragedy. It shouldn’t have happened. It is wrong that it happened. We’ve been very clear about that. We have expectations in terms of the investigations that should occur. But we also cannot turn away or be so naive as to pretend that tragedies and mistakes don’t occur in war. They do. They happen all the time. It’s a terrible thing. We’d wish it wasn’t the case.”
Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the Greens
4 April 2024
“Israel’s targeting of a clearly identified convoy of aid workers is just one example of their attacks and undermining of aid agencies and workers. Just a phone call simply isn’t good enough. The Australian government must respond with actions, not words.”
Australia among 143 countries to grant additional rights to the Palestinian delegation at the UN
Penny Wong, foreign affairs minister
11 May 2024
“We all know one vote won’t, on its own, end this conflict. It has spanned our entire lifetimes. But we all have to do what we can to build momentum towards peace. I want to be extremely clear again. This vote is not about whether Australia recognises Palestine. We will do that when we think the time is right. What we would say, and what I do say, is Australia no longer believes that recognition can only come at the end of a peace process. It could occur as part of a peace process. I have been clear there is no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state.”
Simon Birmingham, Coalition foreign affairs spokesperson
11 May 2024
“The Albanese Labor government has proven overnight that they lack the courage to stand against pressure and by sound principles after voting at the United Nations general assembly for a resolution granting a unique form of UN membership to the ‘state of Palestine’. Labor’s support for the resolution sends a shameful message that violence and terrorism get results ahead of negotiation and diplomacy.”
Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens
29 May 2024
“While the rest of the world moves towards recognising the State of Palestine, Labor’s refusal just sets us back. Recognising Palestine won’t by itself stop the slaughter in Rafah, the invasion, or the occupation; but it is an important step towards peace, equality and justice.”
International criminal court prosecutor applies for arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas
Anthony Albanese, prime minister
23 May 2024
“Well, I’m not about to go into hypotheticals about things that have not happened … There’s been an application. There’s been no determination by the ICC against any individual or anybody at this point in time.”
Peter Dutton, opposition leader
23 May 2024
“I don’t rule it out [Australia withdrawing from the ICC] but I think the pressure at the moment needs to be for like-minded countries that share our values, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, for there to be no difference, and to put pressure on the ICC, to make sure that this antisemitic stance that they’ve taken does not advance.”
Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens
21 May 2024
“Australia must publicly support the ICC prosecutor’s bold decision to press for arrests. No one is above the law … What we do here matters. Labor cannot follow Joe Biden’s flagrant disregard for the independent court.”
Coalition attacks Labor over visas for Palestinians fleeing Gaza
Peter Dutton, opposition leader
14 August 2024
“If people are coming in from that war zone and we’re uncertain about identity or their allegiances – Hamas is a listed terrorist organisation, they’ve just committed an atrocity against the Jewish people, the biggest attack on people of Jewish faith since the Holocaust – and that the government wouldn’t be conducting checks? I don’t think people should be coming in from that war zone at all at the moment. It’s not prudent to do so, and I think it puts our national security at risk.”
Anthony Albanese, prime minister
21 August 2024
“There was a time when the Liberal party would have seen people fleeing, whether they were fleeing Ukraine, Israel, Syria, Vietnam, or Gaza at the moment, and would have had some understanding that this was the worst time to try to malign a whole group of people who are suffering enormously. It’s something that we see on our TV screens every night. This morning, if you turned on the radio, the latest hit was a school in Gaza, with real people devastated and losing their lives. When it comes to security processes, we have faith in our intelligence agencies.”
Australia abstains on a UN vote that called for Israel to end the occupation of the Palestinian territories within 12 months
Penny Wong, foreign affairs minister
19 September 2024
“Frankly, we were in a position where we were wanting to be able to vote for a resolution which did reflect closely the ICJ opinion, which gave impetus to a pathway to peace, and we worked very hard in New York with others, including the Palestinian delegation, to seek amendments that would enable us to support it, as we did the recognition vote and the ceasefire vote, where text enabled Australia to support it, and we were disappointed that the amendments that we and many others sought were not accepted. For that reason we abstained.”
Peter Dutton, opposition leader
19 September 2024
“They should have voted with the United States … I think Penny Wong here is – and along with the prime minister, frankly – damaging our relationship very significantly with Israel, with the United States and with like-minded partners.”
Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the Greens
19 September 2024
“The Labor government has shown itself to be gutless fence-sitters by abstaining on a vote in the UN for Israel to end its occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. That is just plain cowardly.”
As Israel ramps up Lebanon strikes, parliament divides over 7 October anniversary
Anthony Albanese, prime minister
8 October 2024
“A year on from October 7, Israelis and people across the world are mourning those who were robbed of their lives and futures and waiting anxiously for news of the hostages who remain in captivity. Palestinians are mourning the lives taken from them in the continuing aftermath. So much has been lost; so many loved ones buried. We join all of them in their grief.”
Peter Dutton, opposition leader
8 October 2024
“So in the motion moved by the prime minister today are not just words of comfort and words of recognition in relation to October 7 – and I acknowledge those words in his motion. But of course, it goes beyond that, and it’s an extension of the way in which the prime minister has conducted the debate and himself over the course of the last 12 months, trying to please all people in this debate.”
Australian Greens, written statement
7 October 2024
“We condemned the taking of hostages a year ago and we continue to condemn hostage-taking for the war crime that it is. The very same commitment to compassion, honesty, peace and justice required of us in response to those attacks of Hamas requires us as Greens to call out the war crimes and genocide that is being carried out by the State of Israel right now in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories and the bombing and invasion of Lebanon.”
Anti-Israel protesters have cost taxpayers at least $118,000 by vandalising federal offices over the war in the Middle East, with a single Jewish MP suffering an overwhelming share of the damage.
Labor MP Josh Burns, whose grandmother fled Nazi Germany, was targeted by attacks that cost at least $89,300. Vandals lit fires, smashed windows and spray-painted his inner Melbourne office in June in an attempt to pressure the government into hardening its stance on Israel.
Federal officials disclosed the costs in a document that revealed the list of MPs who have been targeted, amid signs the damage is continuing despite public condemnation from leaders on all sides.
In the latest attack, Labor MP Peter Khalil was targeted by protesters who daubed his electorate office in Melbourne with an inverted red triangle linked to Hamas.
They also poured an unknown liquid through a hole they had drilled in a door in the early hours of Monday morning, leading Khalil to report a biohazard from the stench.
The latest attacks are not included in the federal tally released under freedom of information laws, triggered by a request lodged by Liberal MP James Stevens, because the cost estimate from the Department of Finance only runs to June 30. An unknown MP also objected to the damage bill to their office being released, preventing its inclusion.
Burns said the cost was a reminder that the damage had done nothing to end the war and had instead frightened staff and left taxpayers with the bill.
“Unfortunately, vandalism on my office brings us no closer to peace,” he said. “It just costs taxpayers thousands of dollars in repairs.”
The worst damage has been in Melbourne, with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus – a Jew whose family also fled Nazi Germany – targeted with vandalism that cost $2000. Government Services Minister Bill Shorten was the subject of attacks costing $5000.
In Sydney, the damage has cost $1000 at the office of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Marrickville and $1470 at the office of Energy Minister Chris Bowen in Fairfield
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said protesters from both religious extremes and the fringe left were abusing the rights and freedoms of a liberal democracy.
“Although these two groups despise one another, their point of intersection is in their hatred for Western democratic society and its Judeo-Christian values,” he said.
Albanese has rebuked the protesters for causing a “blockade” at his office by setting up outside the front door. Greens supporters have joined the protests at some electorate offices.
The tensions sparked a ferocious parliamentary debate in June, when Greens leader Adam Bandt accused the government of being complicit in the Israeli invasion of Gaza after Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton blamed the Greens for encouraging the protests.
Only 10 per cent of voters think it is legitimate to block access to an MP’s office as part of a protest, according to a Resolve Political Monitor survey published by this masthead in June.
It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. It creates the possibility not only of ending the Israel-Hamas war, returning Israeli hostages and bringing relief to the people of the Gaza Strip, it creates the possibility for the biggest step toward a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians since Oslo, as well as normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia — which means pretty much the entire Muslim world.
It’s that big.
But….
The death of Sinwar alone is not the sufficient condition to end this war and put Israelis and Palestinians on a pathway to a better future. Yes, Sinwar and Hamas always rejected a two-state solution and were committed to the violent destruction of the Jewish state. No one paid a bigger price for that than the Palestinians living in Gaza. But while his death was necessary for a next step to be possible, it was never going to be everything.
The sufficient condition is that Israel have a leader and a governing coalition ready to step up to the opportunity Sinwar’s death has created. To put it bluntly, can Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel live up to his Churchillian self-image and go along with something that he has previously rejected? That is the participation of a reformed West Bank Palestinian Authority in an international peacekeeping force that would take over Gaza in the place of the Sinwar-led Hamas.
For the last month or so, according to my US, Arab and Israeli diplomatic sources, Secretary of State Antony Blinken – at the direction of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris – along with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates have been discussing ideas of what to do on the day after this war ends to rebuild a post-Hamas Gaza, pave the way for Saudi-Israeli normalisation, and create the conditions for another attempt by Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate a different future in both Gaza and the West Bank.
The broad idea is for the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, to agree to appoint economist and former PA prime minister Salam Fayyad – or someone of his sterling reputation for incorruptibility – as the new Palestinian prime minister to lead a new technocratic cabinet and reform the Palestinian Authority, root out corruption and upgrade its governance and security forces.
Such a reformed Palestinian Authority would then formally ask for – and participate in – an international peacekeeping force that would include troops from the UAE, Egypt, possibly other Arab states and maybe even European nations. This force would be phased in to replace the Israeli military in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority would then be responsible for rebuilding Gaza with relief funds provided by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Arab Gulf states, Europeans and most likely the US.
A reformed Palestinian Authority, with massive Arab and international funds, would attempt to restore its credibility in Gaza, and the credibility of its core Fatah organisation in Palestinian politics – and sideline the remnants of Hamas.
The US and Arab diplomats – with quiet assistance of former British prime minister Tony Blair – have been working on this concept with Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s closest adviser. It requires Israel, for now, only to quietly permit the involvement of the Palestinian Authority in the rebuilding of Gaza as part of the international force – not to formally embrace it.
Netanyahu understands, though, that the Arabs will participate in an Arab/international peacekeeping force to clean up the mess in Gaza only if it is part of a process leading to Palestinian statehood.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MBS), in particular, has made it very clear to everyone that for Saudi Arabia to go ahead with normalisation with Israel – after so many Palestinian deaths in Gaza – he needs the war in Gaza to end and any Arab peacekeeping force to be a step that will one day lead to a Palestinian state. The same is true for the UAE and Egypt.
MBS needs to show that in the wake of the war in Gaza he got something from Israel that no other Arab leader ever got, because he is potentially giving Israel something no Israeli leader ever got: relations with the home of Islam’s two holiest mosques. MBS is also vital to getting Abbas to appoint a reformer like Fayyad. Abbas respects MBS.
Let me repeat: a diplomatic initiative to end the war along these lines – and to engineer a Saudi-Israel normalisation and Arab peacekeeping force – will eventually require Israeli commitment to a pathway to Palestinian statehood. That will trigger virulent opposition from Netanyahu’s extremist messianic right-wing partners, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. They will foolhardily see the killing of Sinwar and the collapse of Hamas as an opportunity to think they can kill every last Hamas member in Gaza in order to carry out their agenda of putting Jewish settlements into Gaza and expanding them in the West Bank.
Netanyahu has long wanted to show that he is a historic figure, not just a tactician always manoeuvring to stay alive politically — but never ready to take a big risk to change history.
Well, this is his moment.
Will he cross the Rubicon or do what he usually does – just dog paddle in the middle of it and tell those on each side that he is coming their way?
But this is also history time for MBS. If he wants a security treaty with the US, then the process needs to be launched while Biden is still president. (Senate Democrats will never vote for it under Donald Trump.) That means MBS is going to have to normalise relations with Israel before a Palestinian state is actually created – but do it on the basis of both Israelis and Palestinians specifically moving in that direction.
As someone who has covered the turmoil in the Middle East intensely since October 7 last year, I am newly hopeful about the possibility that the killing of Palestinians in Gaza will stop, the hostages will be returned and real diplomacy will start. And if the respective leaders rise to this moment, there could be a lot more to be hopeful about. Today is a start. What happens on the day after this war is everything.
Thomas L. Friedman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political commentator and author.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times
Australia is supporting a push for Palestinian sovereignty over natural resources, arguing Israel impeding access undermines stability and peace prospects.
A United Nations draft resolution that passed overwhelmingly demanded Israel “the occupying power, cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of the natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
It further recognised the right of Palestinians to claim restitution for losses during peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine and reaffirmed Israeli settlements and deprivation of resources in occupied territories were illegal.
It also called for Israel to stop destroying vital infrastructure including water and sewage pipelines, electricity networks and Palestinian homes including in the Gaza Strip, where its war against Hamas continues.
A second draft resolution called for Israel to assume responsibility and pay compensation to Lebanon and other affected nations for an oil spill in 2006 resulting from an Israeli strike on oil storage tanks.
The two resolutions were in a committee and their passing means they will come before the UN General Assembly for a formal vote, which is non-binding.
The support marks a departure from Australia’s previous position, where it voted no on the oil spill and has abstained from the resource sovereignty resolution since 2011, when it switched from no.
A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Penny Wong noted Australia didn’t agree with everything in the text, despite supporting the sovereignty resolution.
“This vote reflects international concern about Israeli actions that impede access to natural resources, and ongoing settlement activity, land dispossession, demolitions and settler violence against Palestinians,” the spokeswoman said.
“We have been clear that such acts undermine stability and prospects for a two-state solution.”
Australia’s reservations about the Lebanese oil spill resolution include that it made no mention of listed terror group Hezbollah’s actions, but voted for it to reflect international concern about the destruction and civilian casualties.
A humanitarian crisis in Gaza sparked by Israel’s counteroffensive to Hamas’ terror attack in October 2023 has resulted in more than 43,000 deaths, according to the local health ministry.
Australia has raised concern about an Israeli law seeking to undermine the operations of the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza and the wider region.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley attacked Labor for breaking ranks with the US at the UN, which Australia has done previously under the Albanese government.
Senior minister Jason Clare pointed out the Liberals were against American calls for a ceasefire.
Jewish groups in Australia have condemned the government’s support of the resolution, saying it constituted abandonment of Israel as it fought an existential war against Iran and proxies like Hamas.
The vote on the oil spill didn’t build momentum towards peace and ignored the destruction Hezbollah caused during the 2006 war with Israel, Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network welcomed the votes, saying it was a step towards upholding international law and Palestinian rights.
The sovereignty resolution was supported by 159 members including the UK and New Zealand.
Seven nations voted against it, including the United States, Canada and Israel, while 11 abstained.
The Lebanon oil spill resolution passed with 161 votes and seven against, including the US, Canada and Israel.
Australian Associated Press
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In short:
A senior Hamas official says its mediators would accept “any proposal submitted to it” that would lead to a ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Donald Trump repeatedly said during his presidential campaign that he would bring peace to the Middle East.
Iran has also backed Lebanon’s stance in ongoing peace talks to bring peace between Israel and Hezbollah.
A senior Hamas official has declared the group is “ready for a ceasefire” in the war-ravaged Gaza, and urged incoming US president Donald Trump to put “pressure” on Israel to reach a truce.
It follows indications earlier this week that Israel and Hezbollah are close to reaching a deal to end fighting in Lebanon.
Multiple organisations, including the United Nations and Human Rights Watchi, this week declared the situation in Gaza showed “characteristics of genocide”.
“Hamas is ready to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if a ceasefire proposal is presented and on the condition that it is respected” by Israel, Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told news agency AFP.
“We call on the US administration and Trump to pressure the Israeli government to end the aggression.”
Mr Naim said Hamas had informed “mediators that it is in favour of any proposal submitted to it that would lead to a definitive ceasefire and military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip”.
He said Hamas’s key demands, which the organisation had made in successive ceasefire talks, were the return of displaced people, a serious deal for prisoner exchange and the entry of humanitarian aid and reconstruction.
Last weekend, Qatar announced it had suspended its role as a mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks until Hamas and Israel showed “seriousness” in talks.
On the campaign trail, Mr Trump promised peace in the Middle East and has vowed to give free rein to Israel.
This week he announced Marco Rubio would serve as the next US secretary of state.
Hope for peace in Lebanon as strikes hit Syria
On Friday, the Lebanese government said it was conducting a “three-day review” of a US truce proposal for the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Cross-border clashes between the two sides escalated into a full-blown war in September.
An unnamed Lebanese government official talking to AFP on the condition of anonymity said if an agreement was reached, Washington and Paris would issue a joint statement that would be followed by a 60-day truce during which Lebanon would redeploy troops in the southern border area, near Israel.
Israeli officials have recently vowed there will be no let-up in the fighting against Hezbollah.
Iran has indicated it will back Lebanon’s push for a truce between the two sides.
Australia backs UN proposal recognising Palestinian ‘permanent sovereignty’
The vote by Australia in a UN committee puts the country at odds with the United States and Israel, and has angered Australia’s Jewish lobby groups.
Ali Larijani, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, spoke during a visit to Beirut as Israel kept up its intensified bombardment of Hezbollah-controlled areas of the Lebanese capital.
“We are after a solution to the problems. We support in all circumstances the Lebanese government,” Mr Larijani said.
“Those who are disrupting are [Mr] Netanyahu and his people.”
Hezbollah was founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, and has been armed and financed by Tehran.
It came as Israel continued its strikes across the Middle East, and carried out strikes in the Syrian capital of Damascus for the second consecutive day.
Syrian state-run media said Israel struck the upscale Mazzeh district of Damascus on Friday, the second such attack in as many days to hit the neighbourhood home to embassies, security headquarters and United Nations offices.
“Israeli aggression targets Mazzeh area in Damascus,” the official SANA news agency said after reporting a deadly Israeli strike on the district a day earlier.
AFP/Reuters