Tom Minear: Albanese could learn from Biden’s Israel war response

As Anthony Albanese comes under pressure over his response to the war in Israel, Tom Minear argues there is a key lesson for him in US President Joe Biden’s response.

Israel has a right to defend itself. That has been Anthony Albanese’s default line since Hamas terrorists murdered and abducted Israeli civilians more than two weeks ago.

It’s a perfectly reasonable statement, as far as these things go, but the PM’s contrived language hints at tense diplomatic and political discussions behind the scenes.

Compare it to Joe Biden who, in one of his finest speeches as the US President, went a step further by declaring that Israel has not only a right but a duty to respond.

We should expect nothing less from any nation brutally targeted by an enemy whose stated purpose is its destruction. Of course the Israeli government has the right to hit back at Hamas, but in order to protect and defend its citizens, it also has no alternative but to do so.

Anthony Albanese could learn something from Joe Biden’s response on the war in Israel. Picture: Brendan Smialowski (AFP)

This does not give Israel a free pass on the rules of war. Here more than anywhere else in the world, there will be sharply different views of what constitutes a proportionate response. (Although, as Liberal senator James Paterson sensibly pointed out, proportionality is the wrong frame given a democracy should never match the depravity of terrorists.)

This is not a straightforward question, and you should think twice about anyone who tells you otherwise. No one wants to see any civilian deaths in Gaza, but the devastating truth is that in a dense urban environment where vulnerable people are used as human shields, such casualties are inevitable.

The devastating truth is that civilian casualties are inevitable as Israel hits back at Hamas in Gaza. Picture: Ahmad Hasaballah (Getty Images)

Albanese will feel wedged as the war unfolds. Labor MPs are turning on Israel, suggesting they are committing war crimes. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, in a naked attempt to seize on this division, suggested his priority this week should be visiting Tel Aviv, not Washington.

That was a clumsy overreach. The US trip is incredibly important. But Dutton, in also questioning why Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had not returned Albanese’s call, hinted at his blind spot.

Amid his relentless overseas travel, the PM can still seem deferential to the bureaucratic machine rather than instinctive on difficult matters of foreign affairs – and his counterparts have noticed. Recall how Australia’s embassy in Ukraine remains closed, despite our allies returning long ago and a direct plea from President Volodymyr Zelensky.

While Biden is a fellow traveller on Albanese’s side of politics, he seems unperturbed by efforts to wedge him over Israel. The PM could learn something from the moral clarity of his leadership.