Labor condemned by Coalition, Jewish groups, over UN vote on Palestine

Peter Dutton has accused Anthony Albanese of selling out Israel to claw back votes in western Sydney after the government switched its vote in the UN to support Palestinian statehood.

Australia's UN ambassador James Larsen addressing the General Assembly on the Palestine resolution at UN headquarters in New York. Picture: UN

Peter Dutton has accused Anthony Albanese of selling out Israel to claw back votes in western Sydney after the government switched its vote in the UN to support Palestinian statehood and demand Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories.

The move came as it emerged that Israel’s Foreign Minister dressed down Australia’s ambassador to the country over the government’s visa rejection for a former Israeli minister, accusing Labor of heeding “baseless blood libels” spread by the pro-Palestine lobby.

Jewish groups were outraged at the government’s decision to support the UN motion, which Australia has abstained from or opposed for more than two decades, accusing it of breaching a pre-election pledge to maintain strong support for Israel and avoid using foreign policy to play domestic politics.

Australia joined 156 other countries on Wednesday morning AEDT to back the seven-page resolution urging “the realisation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination and the right to their independent state”.

It also called for a high-level conference in June to “urgently chart an irreversible pathway towards the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-state solution”.

Israel and the US were among eight nations to vote against the motion, together with Australia’s Pacific partners Papua New Guinea, Palau, Nauru and Micronesia.

Australia voted with 156 other countries to support the UN resolution on Palestine.

Australia’s support for the resolution came just days after cabinet minister Ed Husic declared Labor needed “to fast-track sovereignty” for Palestinians, amid a looming electoral backlash by Muslim voters over the government’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Mr Dutton said the Prime Minister had abandoned Australian Jews “for votes”.

“He sold the Jewish community out in this country for Green votes in western Sydney and in places like Marrickville (in Mr Albanese’s seat),” the Opposition Leader said.

“I think we should be standing with allies like the United States. Instead, the Albanese government is chasing Green votes and they’ve been prepared to sacrifice the wellbeing of the Jewish community here in Australia to do so.”

The Greens have accused Labor of failing to do enough to support Palestinians, while cabinet ministers Tony Burke and Jason Clare are under immense pressure from disgruntled Muslim voters in their Sydney seats of Watson and Blaxland.

Mr Burke, the Home Affairs Minister, denied right-wing former Israeli justice minister Ayelet Shaked a visa to come to Australia last month on the grounds she could “vilify” Australians or “incite discord”.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong meets with, from left, Australian ambassador to Israel Ralph King, then Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz and Israeli ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon during a visit to Jerusalem in January. Picture: DFAT

Israeli media revealed the country’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, called in Australia’s ambassador, Ralph King, for an official reprimand on the issue on Monday.

“The decision prohibiting minister Shaked from visiting Australia was based on baseless blood libels spread by the pro-Palestinian lobby in Australia, and it is a shame that a friendly country like Australia chose to base it on them instead of the longstanding friendship between the countries,” he said.

The shift in Australia’s position on the Palestinian statehood resolution winds back the clock to the Howard government, which backed the motion between 1996 and 2001. It follows similar reversals by the government on other UN votes, and Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s declaration earlier this year that Labor would consider recognition of Palestinian statehood to help “build a pathway to peace”.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion said the government’s latest change of position on Israel was a further violation of its pre-election commitments to the Jewish community.

“It makes a mockery of Labor’s pledge to the ECAJ before the last federal election to ‘never play domestic politics with Australia’s foreign relations’,” he said.

“The ECAJ was also told that ‘Labor is a strong supporter of the State of Israel and that will never change’. Few people in the Jewish community or wider community would see Labor as having fulfilled that commitment. For some time now, this government has been chipping away at bipartisan support for Israel and a negotiated end to the conflict.”

The Zionist Federation of Australia said the government’s position would “reward terrorism”, while the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council said the motion was “woefully one-sided”, placing obligations on Israel but none on Palestinians.

Former Israeli justice minister Ayelet Shaked was denied a visa by the Albanese government on the grounds she could ‘vilify’ Australians or ‘incite discord’.

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network said the government was part of a growing global consensus “to dismantle Israel’s illegal occupation, its apartheid regime and genocidal policies”.

“This is an important step by the Australian government, aligning our nation with the overwhelming majority of the world in standing up for Palestinian justice and human rights, and accountability for Israel,” APAN president Nasser Mashni said.

He called for the government to pile further pressure on Israel by imposing sanctions and a two-way arms embargo on it.

Australia’s ambassador to the UN James Larsen told the General Assembly in New York a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians was the “only hope of breaking the endless cycle of violence, the only hope to see a secure and prosperous future for both peoples”.

“Our vote today reflects our determination that the international community again work together to build momentum towards this goal,” he said.

Australia also changed a past “no” vote to an abstention on a resolution arguing for continued funding for a UN unit that advocates for Palestinian rights.

Mr Larsen said while Australia had “reservations that the Division for Palestinian Rights devotes too many resources to a one-sided perspective of the conflict”, Australia’s revised position reflected its “frustration … a Palestinian state still does not exist”.