Labor makes a dramatic shift on Israel, but Anthony Albanese has let this issue run far too long

Pro-Palestine protesters in Melbourne on Sunday. Picture: AFP

The Albanese government has made a dramatic shift on Israel’s right to defend itself and the rise of anti-Semitism in Australia, months later than it should have and months after the need for a shift was obvious to everyone but the Labor brains trust.

Again, Anthony Albanese has let a damaging issue run for too long and become embedded in the public mind before deciding to change direction.

And, again, it looks like the Prime Minister has only acted under extreme pressure from the opposition and when the issue appears to be damaging Labor in the polls and its prospects at the election.

For months it has been clear Labor’s long-term ambivalence towards Israel’s right to defend itself and the growing rate of anti-Semitism have been diminishing our relations with friends and allies, seen to be providing encouragement to increasingly violent protests, denying an understandable military response to terror attacks and eroding Albanese’s credibility.

Yet only in the past two days, on the eve of the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terror attacks that killed 1200 Israelis, have two senior ­ministers clearly enunciated that Israel has the right to respond to missile attacks and that Australian Jews are suffering because of social divisions.

Of course, Albanese will argue there has been no change of policy and no change of emphasis or tone – and that there was no political window dressing to appease Muslim voters concentrated in Labor seats in western Sydney. But, on Sunday, Richard Marles adopted the US position that of course Israel had the “right to respond”; and, on Monday, Mark Butler conceded it was Jews who were bearing the brunt of fear and prejudice in Australia.

Speaking at a memorial service in Sydney, Butler said: “Of course, Israel has the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks … no self-respecting nation would fail to defend itself if attacked the way Israel has been”.

No implicit suggestion Israel would breach international law or commit genocide; no call for restraint; and no demand for the establishment of a Palestinian state without Israel’s involvement.

On the issue of social division in Australia, Butler said: “The environment that allowed Jewish Australians to lead full, contributing lives – largely unmolested by the anti-Semitism so rife in other parts of the world – is under real threat from an unholy collection of disparate groups coming together, spewing hate and openly chanting phrases that urge the destruction of the only Jewish state on the planet.

“Only Jewish parents have to watch their children walk into schools surrounded by security fences and guards. Only Jewish aged care facilities – subjected to threats and vandalism since October 7 – have had to hire security guards on police advice.”

No qualifications, no equivalence and no empty window dressing about an equal impact on Muslims. But even Albanese’s ­formal statement on the first ­anniversary of the terrorist attacks could not simply be a declaration of sympathy and memorial for those killed and captured but sought to broaden the context to all lives lost since and social division in Australia.

Whether it has been a terrible mistake or is the result of an ideological position that Labor cannot publicly reveal or plausibly defend, the result has been a moral and political failure that left the government condemned and hounded from all sides. The initial call from Penny Wong as Foreign Minister for Israel to exercise “restraint” even before the smoke on the killing fields had cleared set the tone for an accusatory attitude that implied Israel would breach international law. It gave succour to pro-Palestinian protests, pushed positions well beyond our allies, particularly the US, desperately sought to balance anti-Semitism with Islamophobia, delayed the concession that Israel had a right to respond beyond its “right to defend itself” and proposed a timetable for the establishment of a Palestinian state without Israeli agreement.

Such actions meant Australia’s long history of support for Israel was diminished and we were at odds with the US. That meant what little real effect we could have in influencing the means of retaliation or arguing for ceasefires was virtually eliminated.

Domestically the political and social fallout from confused or weak messages from the government about Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, was even worse because not only did Jewish citizens feel betrayed but also Muslim communities sensed the absence of principles and likewise felt betrayed.

Albanese acknowledged “the distress the conflict has caused here in Australia” and declared that beyond October 7 “the number of civilians who have lost their lives is a devastating tragedy”.

Albanese is right but, unfortunately, the confused way in which the government has handled foreign policy and domestic politics in the last 12 months has contributed to social division and Israeli and Jewish isolation. Some in the government at least believe the change is better late than never.