Editorial. Israel’s enemies are the West’s enemies

It is unfortunate both Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s running mate, senator JD Vance, decided to stay away from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s historic address to the joint sitting of the US congress on Thursday (AEST). For both, there was much they could have learned from it: Ms Harris, over her trenchant criticism of aspects of Israel’s fightback against Hamas’s barbaric terrorism in Gaza and Mr Netanyahu’s leadership; and Senator Vance, no less, over his worryingly isolationist world view.

Ms Harris, as Joe Biden’s Vice-President, should have presided over what was the first time any foreign leader had addressed a joint sitting of congress for a fourth time (Winston Churchill held the record previously with three). Instead, she attended a sorority event in Indiana.

Senator Vance also declined to take time off from the campaign. At a time of such immense challenge for the West over Gaza, with even China ominously rolling out the red carpet in Beijing for Hamas and Islamic Jihad to gain influence in the Middle East alongside Russia and Iran, Ms Harris and Senator Vance would have done better to be there as Mr Netanyahu, in a widely praised address, warned: “Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, our victory will be your victory.” He could not have been more accurate. His statement sums up what is at stake in Gaza and the critical challenge the war poses now and for whichever party wins in November. It leaves no doubt about the critical importance to the entire Western world of Israel’s battle, despite the way it is derided by many in the US congress and elsewhere among the world’s democracies.

Unsurprisingly, Mr Netanyahu’s address was interrupted 50 times by standing ovations. Mr Netanyahu and his coalition are not beyond criticism, but it is incontrovertible, as he insisted, that Israel’s enemies are the West’s enemies, and that Israel’s resolute fightback against barbaric terrorism demands solid support from both sides of politics in the US, and democracies everywhere. It is a fundamental principle of international relations that when an ally is at war, the least that ally’s leader deserves is a respectful hearing. Those who boycotted Mr Netanyahu’s address, as The Wall Street Journal noted, revealed more about themselves than about Mr Netanyahu.

Given the context of the mindless pro-Palestine and anti-Israel demonstrations since the October 7 massacre, Ms Harris and Senator Vance, had they been there, might have understood better why Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy, is fighting so fiercely. They would have heard, for example, that contrary to the constant claims of Israeli inhumanity, “Israel has enabled more than 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza – that’s half a million tonnes of food and more than 3000 calories a day for every man, woman and child in Gaza (before the theft of much of it by Hamas)”.

The need in Washington no less than Canberra is for a clear-eyed understanding about what is at stake in Gaza and what realistic prospects there are for achieving a two-state solution to the crisis. China’s sudden emergence as a doubtless malign player on the side of the disreputable Palestinian Authority (referred to by UAE Foreign Minister as “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”) and the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists adds another ominous dimension to the crisis. Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s announcement of Australian Magnitsky-style sanctions on seven West Bank settlers over alleged attacks on Palestinians is all very well. Doing so, she said, forms part of Australia’s attempt to “protect the pathway to a two-state solution”. Settler violence is unquestionably a crime. But opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson raised a valid question by asking why the Albanese government hadn’t taken similar action over “very serious human rights abuses against the Uighur ethnic minority in Xinjiang – something that the UN and human rights groups have said are crimes against humanity or even a genocide”.