Moral confusion on the Middle East

Israel’s former ambassador to Australia Mark Sofer has made clear the hollow hopes of the Albanese government’s insistence on an immediate ceasefire and diplomatic solution to the escalating violence in the Middle East.

On the day Iran fired 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, Mr Sofer asked on Sky News: “What do you negotiate about?” Iran, he said, was financing and arming every terrorist organisation in the region.

“They are dedicated 100 per cent to the destruction of the state of Israel so what are we supposed to discuss?” Mr Sofer said. “The speed of our destruction? The method of our destruction?”

Iran’s ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, confirmed the point when he praised slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as “remarkable”, a “blessed martyr” and “outstanding standard-bearer” for the “struggle against the defiled Zionist regime”. So too has Australia’s leading group of Muslim clerics, which issued instructions to media that said reporting of the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel should be put in the context of a historical continuum. “The history between Palestinians and Israelis spans over 77 years, and simplistically presenting this conflict overlooks the complexities involved,” the Australian National Imams Council said. Which is exactly the sort of morally confused thinking that has led to the reality of public demonstrations to glorify terrorist organisations that are prepared to rape and murder innocent people, film it, and boast about their activities to encourage others and to spread fear.

Australians have been poorly served by the Albanese government, which has failed to speak up clearly. In doing so it has allowed malevolent forces to run unchecked under a misguided pretext of moral equivalence.

The situation for Israel could not be more dire. This is particularly so given comments by former International Atomic Energy Agency deputy director Olli Heinonen that Iran could be six months away from having 10 nuclear warheads ready to fire. Mr Heinonen, who oversaw the IAEA’s efforts to contain Iran’s nuclear program, said the country could have the arsenal ready by April if it “rushed”.

This is the reality under which Israel must consider how it responds to Iran’s latest attack. Mr Sofer said Iran did not understand the Israeli resolve.

Neither does the Australian government, which, by its comments and inaction, continues to break faith with our friend and ally in its time of need.