Labor’s shift on Israel ‘reckless’, warns Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton has branded the government’s shifting policy on Israel as ‘reckless’ and attacked rising anti-Semitism, as Labor left open the prospect of backing Palestinian statehood in the UN.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong addresses the ANU’s National Security College on Tuesday. Picture: Rohan Thomson / ANU

Peter Dutton has branded the government’s shifting policy on Israel as “reckless” and attacked rising anti-Semitism, as Labor left open the prospect of backing ­Palestinian statehood in the UN.

In a speech on Wednesday, the Opposition Leader savaged the government’s new openness to backing Palestinian statehood, ­accusing Penny Wong of “irreparably damaging” relations with ­Israel. “Until Hamas is defeated, a two-state solution isn’t even ­conceivable because Hamas will always pose an existential threat to Israel,” he said.

“This reality makes the Foreign Minister’s remarks last night utterly illogical, ill-timed and ­inappropriate. It is the most reckless act of a foreign minister I have seen in my 22 years in the parliament – and it has weakened our international standing.”

He told an audience at the Sydney Opera House – the scene of ugly protests against Jewish Australians days after the October 7 ­attack by Hamas – that the events that night were shocking.

“It was a recognition that something is rotten in the state of Australia,” Mr Dutton said at the Tom Hughes Oration, accusing the Greens of fuelling the anger.

Earlier, Anthony Albanese sought to downplay the furore over his Foreign Minister’s call in a keynote speech for recognition of Palestine to advance peace in the Middle East, arguing that Labor had long supported a two-state ­solution and “nothing has changed in our position”.

The Prime Minister sidestepped questions on the gov­ernment’s potential support for Palestinian statehood in the UN, saying there needed to be a long-term political solution to the ­Israel-Palestine conflict that did not include Hamas. Senator Wong said the inter­national community was determined to break the “endless cycle of violence” but refused to say what the government would do if the question of Palestinian statehood came to a vote in the UN General Assembly.

“We’ll see what comes forward,” she said. “But what I would say is we would need to see Hamas release hostages. We would need to see a plan for a pathway to peace. That’s what we need to see.”

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham during a visit to southern Israel, speaking to an IDF soldier at Kfar Aza kibbutz – the site of an October 7 massacre by Hamas terrorists.

Senator Wong sparked anger in the Jewish community and among Labor supporters of Israel with a speech on Tuesday arguing that Palestinian statehood was a necessary step along the “pathway” to a two-state solution.

She said putting Palestinian statehood at the end of the process had failed for the past 30 years.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham accused the government of threatening the longstanding ­bipartisanship on foreign policy in the “reckless pursuit of Greens’ votes”. “Hamas’s attacks of Oct­ober 7, deliberately slaughtering more Jews than on any single day since the Holocaust, shattered any sense of security and, in their own words, was an attack on Israel’s right to exist,” he said.

“It is downright dangerous to reward such barbaric conduct with a fast track to recognition of statehood.”

It came as Greens leader Adam Bandt said the Albanese government should “immediately recognise Palestine” and end military contracts with Israel.

The UN Security Council will soon consider Palestine’s application for full membership of the global body, which the US would typically be expected to scuttle using its veto. Australia is not a member of the Security Council, but could in the future be asked to vote on the question in the UN General Assembly.

The US has a longstanding ­policy that Palestinian statehood must come as the result of a negotiated agreement with Israel.

US President Joe Biden, however, has been increasingly critical of the Jewish state, declaring on Wednesday AEST that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy was a “mistake”, and urging a ceasefire with Hamas.

Labor Friends of Israel co-­convener Mike Kelly said the government must place strict conditions on its support for Palestinian statehood, including the removal of Hamas.

Dr Kelly, a former army ­colonel who served in the Gillard and Rudd governments, said Senator Wong had failed to lay out the terms on which Palestinian statehood should be achieved.

“Our position is to urge that there be preconditions to recognition and would add that we ­believe Australia should act in concert with the US and like-minded countries to ensure the diplomatic leverage of recognition is not wasted,” he said.

Jewish groups condemned Senator Wong’s speech. Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion said it was “not the way to treat a friend and ally of Australia”.

“Our government must be clear-eyed about why peace has remained elusive,” he said.

Australia’s main pro-Palestine lobby group called for Labor to go further. “Recognition is a first step towards upholding the full rights of Palestinians, including the right to self-determination, dignity and equality in their homeland,” Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni said. “But it’s only the beginning … Australia must also recognise that Israel is an apartheid state.”