PM opts for wrong side of history

Australia’s leading rabbis, whom ­Anthony Albanese personally assured he would ­“unequivocally fight anti-­­Semitism”, gave the Prime Minister an important chance to stand on the right side of history on Wednesday. He blew it, badly. The rabbis had implored Mr Albanese to show moral clarity and reject the bid by the International Criminal Court to put Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence chief, Yoav Gallant, on trial for war crimes. Rabbi Levi Wolff, from Sydney’s Central Synagogue, said the government needed to be “clear and decisive” on the warrants ­application, and stand “on the correct side of history”. The preposterous allegations by the ICC demand strong language, he said, “such as the statements we heard from Joe Biden, Peter Dutton and Alexander Downer, who, like us, feel ashamed of Australia’s status as a signatory to the ICC”.

At a heartbreaking time with anti-Semitism gathering pace, Australia’s Jewish community has been badly let down, yet again, by Labor, with Mr Albanese even refusing to say if Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he set foot in Australia. If the ICC issues the warrants, the government will be technically obligated, under the Rome Statute when the ICC was founded, to arrest Mr Netanyahu. Instead of dismissing the preposterous idea, Mr Albanese hid behind empty cliches when questioned on Thursday. Australia would make its own decision, he said. “I’m not about to go into hypotheticals about things that have not happened.” There is nothing hypothetical about the position ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan KC put forward. Mr Albanese was also weak and illogical when he claimed it was up to the former Howard government, which signed up to the ICC, to “explain those decisions at the time”. Pathetic. This week’s events matter, not those of 25 years ago.

Dutton says a future Coalition government could cut ties with the ICC over its bid to arrest Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant. But Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic claimed Mr Dutton’s calls to boycott the ICC were “staggering”. Why? Mr Dutton’s idea is worth considering.

Two days ago, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade left clear-thinking Australians aghast when it expressed the government’s respect for the ICC after it declared its intention to issue warrants for the arrest of the Jewish leaders on war crimes. A fortnight ago, Australia voted to give Palestine more rights in the UN, parting ways on the issue with traditional allies such as the US, the UK and Canada.

After months of mixed messages from the government as anti-Semitism developed an ugly grip in too many parts of Australia since October 7, the nation’s senior rabbis put their hands out to Mr Albanese, looking to him for clear moral leadership. Yet again, he has let them, and other Australians concerned about the cause of right, down, stepping on to the wrong side of history. The government’s position is neither coherent nor principled.