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Australia backs UNRWA resolution in UN votes in fresh blow to Israel relationship

Penny Wong has again called for a ceasefire in Gaza amid intense friction between Australia and Israel.

Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer
5 min read
December 12, 2024 - 1:54PM
NewsWire
Australia to vote on Gaza ceasefire at United Nations

Penny Wong has again called for a ceasefire in Gaza after Australia backed a United Nations resolution demanding an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” end to the fighting in the Palestinian territory.

More than 150 countries voted for the ceasefire, including the vast majority of Israel’s Western allies.

Noting the overwhelming support for the resolution, the Foreign Minister said on Thursday the international consensus was clear.

“For the past year, the world has been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate and unconditional release of hostages,” she wrote on social media.

“Today 158 countries voted in favour of this, including Australia, the UK, NZ, Canada, Japan and Germany.

“We want this war to end and the hostages home.”

The ceasefire resolution also called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” Hamas took after launching its brutal October 7 terrorist attack on Israel last year.

However, it did not condemn the Palestinian militant group’s actions or demand it lay down its arms.

Israel launched its military action in Gaza after Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the territory, killed more than 1200 in its brutal October 7 assault last year.

Thousands more were wounded, while militants took hundreds hostage as they retreated.

Much of the attack, which represents the largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, was captured in graphic videos that flooded social media.

Hamas’ leadership has vowed to do it again, which is why the Albanese government’s repeated calls for a ceasefire have rubbed Benjamin Netanyahu up the wrong way.

The Israeli Prime Minister has accused Labor of taking an “extreme anti-Israel position” and said it was “impossible to separate” from last week’s firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne.

The Albanese government has rejected the charge and insisted it supports Israel’s right to self-defence but how Israel defends itself must be in line with international rules.

North of 40,000 people have been killed in the casualty-heavy response in Gaza.

Almost the entire population of the densely populated strip has been displaced and aid groups and independent monitors have been warning for months of an increasingly dire humanitarian situation in the conflict zone, with disease and famine rampant.

That situation is feared to only worsen if Israel goes ahead with its ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), a vital aid agency often called the “backbone” of the humanitarian response in Gaza.

Dual votes

The UN voted on two resolutions on Wednesday evening (local time), both of which Australia backed.

One demanded the ceasefire, while the other called for reversal of Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA.

A total of 159 countries voted in support of the UNRWA resolution and 158 backed the ceasefire resolution, with the vast majority of Israel’s Western allies supporting both.

The US opposed both.

Australia’s ambassador to the UN James Larsen said even though Australia did not support everything in the UNRWA resolution, obstructing the agency’s “operations will only exacerbate an already terrible humanitarian crisis”.

“Although Australia does not agree with everything in the resolution titled ‘Support for the Mandate of UNRWA’, our vote in favour reflects our view that UNRWA must be able to continue its lifesaving work,” Mr Larsen said.

“UNRWA provides desperately needed services to civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and across the region.

“As the Security Council has said, UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian response to the catastrophic situation in Gaza.

“We join the Security Council in expressing grave concern over legislation adopted by the Israeli Knesset.

“Limiting UNRWA’s operations will only exacerbate an already-terrible humanitarian crisis.”

Israel’s parliament voted to ban UNRWA. Picture: Jack Guez / AFP
Israel’s parliament voted to ban UNRWA. Picture: Jack Guez / AFP

He pointed out that the resolution stated “UNRWA has a responsibility to address any credible allegations, and to ensure accountability for any violations of the Agency’s principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence”.

Israel’s parliament voted in late October to ban UNRWA from operating on its territory after the Netanyahu government claimed some staff had ties to Hamas andwere involved in the October 7 assault.

At the time, the Albanese government, which has also long called for a ceasefire, joined most of Israel’s Western allies in opposing the move.

The ban is set to come into force in January and would make it much harder for the organisation to get essential supplies into Gaza.

Mr Larsen acknowledged UNRWA’s action after the Israeli government’s claims.

“We note UNRWA’s measures to terminate the employment of UNRWA staff members following the 7 October atrocities carried out by Hamas,” Mr Larsen said.

“Atrocities that should have been unequivocally condemned by this resolution.

“Any involvement or affiliation with terrorist organisations cannot be tolerated.

“Australia will continue to press the United Nations and UNRWA to safeguard the organisation’s neutrality.”

‘Mark of shame’

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion slammed the Albanese government for supporting the resolutions, saying that Israel was being “expected to betray its own citizens”.

“Seldom has the moral bankruptcy of the UN been on more conspicuous display,” Mr Aghion said.

“Mere voting numbers do not determine the truth or what is just.

“It is a mark of shame for Australia that our government decided to support this vote, knowing full well how wrong it is in so many ways, as was evident in the reservations expressed by the Australian representative.”

At home, Anthony Albanese has been under pressure amid a spate of high profile anti-Semitic incidents in Australia’s biggest cities.

In addition to last week’s synagogue attack in Melbourne, “Kill Israiel” was scrawled onto a wall behind a torched car in the east Sydney suburb of Woollahra on Wednesday.

It was the second such incident in the leafy suburb in less than a month.

Albanese is ‘gaslighting’ Jewish community by backing UN ceasefire vote

Echoing the Mr Netanyahu’s remarks, Coalition frontbencher James Paterson warned ahead of the UN votes that supporting the resolutions would embolden anti-Semites in Australia.

“One of the reasons why this is important is not just because our foreign policy is important, not just because standing with our allies and friends like the United States is important, but because we know that anti-Semites in Australia conflate Israel with Jews,” Senator Paterson told Sky News.

“We had another powerful demonstration of that this week in Sydney, where cars in an area populated by the Jewish community were set on fire and graffiti targeted Israel.

“They don’t draw any distinction between Israel and Jews, so when the Australian government abandons or, even worse, vilifies Israel, anti-Semites take encouragement from that and (it) gives them licence.”

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/australia-tipped-to-back-unrwa-resolution-in-un-votes/news-story/8777dcdc948ac7613b9459f46ea01465