Andrew L. Urban
What could prompt anyone to suggest that Australia’s current government attitude to Israel is “cowardice dressed in the robes of diplomacy”? It’s more like belligerent antisemitism dressed in the robes of belligerent antisemitism. It’s visible in the Australian Labor Government’s rhetoric, in its passive response to antisemitic riots and vile speeches by local Imams, in its anti-Israel voting at the UN and in its acceptance of the legitimacy of the ICC arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu.
A confused Shannon Cummings, writing in The Times of Israel, says “Wong recites from the UN hymnbook of ‘international norms’, while Albanese mumbles about ‘independent foreign policy’. Translation: they are too frightened to choose a side – except, of course, when it comes to denouncing the only democracy in the Middle East.”
They are too frightened to choose a side …except they do choose a side: the side of Hamas. Cummins contradicts himself. A Jerusalem-based political strategist and commentator originally from Sydney, Cummings, with respect, has it completely wrong.
Albanese and Wong (and the entire Labor front bench) are not making a mistake. It is age-old antisemitism. They are intentionally breaking down Australia’s relationship with Israel, while also damaging Australia’s relationship with the US.
Israel, both a symbolic and a geopolitical target of Labor’s determination to sow discord, is part of the broader agenda that includes disruptive policies on energy and climate change. It isn’t incompetence – or cowardice – but wilful destruction that drives this Labor government, furtively pursuing the breakdown of free market capitalism in favour of socialism.
It isn’t ignorance or incompetence that drives Minister Chris Bowen’s policies: it’s deliberate. The hokum of the climate change narrative serves to provide cover, just as Minister Penny Wong’s unrealistic insistence that “we urge de-escalation, we urge restraint, we urge dialogue and diplomacy.” Tell that to the Mullahs of Iran. Tell them to abandon their war cries “Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!” – the overriding objectives of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It may not be realistic, especially now in the wake of the destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities on June 22, 2015, but it fuels the hatred that fuels their behaviour.
If actions (see above) speak louder than words, Labor’s actions seem to align more with the wishes of the Islamic Republic of Iran than those of Israel. Except, of course, for the disingenuous call for a two state solution.
Stung by the words of Israel’s ambassador to Australia that diplomatic efforts to contain Iran were an “illusion”, warning that the Islamic Republic’s open pursuit of nuclear weapons could not be negotiated away, “as if words can stop warheads”, Wong turned to Iran with hands on hips: “I again reiterate (sic) Australia’s call on Iran: you have to discontinue any nuclear weapons program,” Wong said. “You have to discontinue any nuclear program. That is the call of the world. We urge Iran to come to the table and to do what the world is seeking – what the United States and others are making very clear – which is to discontinue any nuclear program and to return to diplomacy and dialogue.” She stamped her foot for effect.
To ‘again reiterate’, actions speak louder than words. Minister Wong should start by cancelling foreign aid payments to the Palestinian Authority. The Foundation for the Care of the Families of Martyrs is dedicated to assisting an Arab who has been “wounded, killed, or otherwise affected as a result of their joining the revolution or the presence of the revolution,” against Israel and operates within the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Social Affairs.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the payments “an incentive for murder”. Australia is helping to fund it. I first argued in 2017 (Flat White, October 23, 2017) that Australia should cease these payments. As I reported, “In 2017, half of the US$693 million that the PA receives as foreign aid, US$345 million, was paid out as stipends to convicted terrorists and their families. In 2016 it supported 35,100 families.
“Countering Palestinian Authority claims that this is a welfare fund, the World Bank stated that, “the program is clearly not targeted to the poorest households. While some assistance should be directed to this population, the level of resources devoted to the ‘Martyrs Fund’ and the injured does not seem justified from a welfare or fiscal perspective.”
“The “martyr” payments are “exceedingly popular” among Palestinians and have been described as “part of the ethos of Palestinian society,” according to Wikipedia.
According to DFAT, the Australian Government is providing an estimated $32.2 million to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in 2024-25, including $20.0 million to UNRWA, the agency many of whose employees participated in or assisted Hamas in the October 7 atrocities against Israel.
This article was first published in The Spectator Australia.