PM claims credit for helping with peace plan but refuses to feed Trump’s Nobel ambitions
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has savaged the Prime Minister's 'fanciful' assertion that his government influenced the US-brokered Gaza peace negotiations.
Anthony Albanese has claimed partial credit for helping to nudge the US and Israel towards their Gaza peace plan, as he declined to endorse Donald Trump to receive a Nobel prize for his efforts to bring the war to an end.
In comments lashed by the opposition as “fanciful”, the Prime Minister declared: “There is no doubt that recognition (of Palestine) played a role in building momentum towards peace”.
The claim came as Hamas considered its response to the US President’s 20-point peace plan with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with some reports saying the terrorist group was likely to reject the agreement and others saying it could be accepted.
Mr Albanese welcomed the blueprint unveiled on Tuesday (AEST) but stopped short of backing Mr Trump’s relentless push to win a Nobel peace prize, saying he wasn’t on the board that would make the decision.
The Prime Minister said Australia’s recognition of Palestine at the UN last week alongside nine other countries – a move Mr Trump branded as “foolish” – was critical for the push towards a two-state solution.
He also pointed to his meetings at the UN and in recent days with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, King Abdullah II of Jordan, UAE leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and former British prime minister Tony Blair, who has been tapped by Mr Trump to sit on the proposed Gaza “Board of Peace”.
“They’re all connected with that momentum,” Mr Albanese told The Australian on his flight home after an 11-day trip to the US, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.
“Australia recognising was a part of us saying what was required, in the way that we said, as well, that Hamas must be isolated.”
Sussan Ley said the Prime Minister was “trying it on” in seeking to take credit for the US-brokered peace plan and highlighted the Albanese government’s recent failures in its bids to sign a defence treaty with Papua New Guinea and a security agreement with Vanuatu.
“He wasn’t in the loop, he wasn’t in the room, and he had no influence in shaping it,” the Opposition Leader said.
“It is fanciful to suggest that a Prime Minister who in recent weeks hasn’t been able to finalise agreements with Vanuatu or Papua New Guinea somehow engineered peace in the Middle East.
“The truth is his premature recognition of a Palestinian state was publicly criticised by the US administration and Israel for setting back the prospects of peace. Far from helping, he made it harder.”
Mr Albanese said Foreign Minister Penny Wong had more than a year ago “articulated what was increasingly becoming apparent to western democratic leaders, which was that recognition wouldn’t come at the end of the peace process, but could be a part of building a peace process”.
He said there could not be an enduring ceasefire without tackling longer-term concerns of Israelis and Palestinians, including the permanent disarmament of Hamas, addressing increasing settlements in the West Bank and rebuilding Gaza.
With 147 countries already recognising Palestine, Mr Albanese said the addition of 10 countries that moved at the UN was critical for the push towards a two-state solution.
Mr Albanese said Australia, Canada and Britain – three of the Five Eyes security allies with the US – “acting to the minute” on Palestinian recognition was “very significant”.
In addition to the Arab League pledging its support, the Palestinian Authority promising reform, and France and Saudi Arabia co-convening the UN two-state solution conference, Mr Trump hosted a multilateral meeting in New York last week with Arab heads of state and leaders from Indonesia and Pakistan.
Mr Albanese said the US must “play a role” to ensure peace in the Middle East is enduring.
“You’ve had momentum building and it’s been happening on two levels. The public level but also the various peace plans that have been shared between people, have been part of that dialogue, part of the lead-up to the UN France-Saudi meeting,” he said.
Under the Trump plan, Hamas was given 72 hours to release its remaining hostages and lay down its weapons, in return for the phased withdrawal of Israel forces and the longer-term redevelopment of the territory.
The BBC reported on Wednesday that a senior Hamas figure had said the group was likely to reject the plan, saying it “serves Israel’s interests” and “ignores those of the Palestinian people”.
Hamas sources told the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat the plan gave Israel too much latitude over the pace of its pullout from Gaza and offered no binding guarantees.
But US network CBS said a source close to the process had said Hamas and other Palestinian factions were leaning towards accepting the deal.
And as Mr Trump was finalising his plan for peace in Gaza, he received an extraordinary letter from the enclave’s business elite, including the mayor of Gaza City, begging him to bring about peace with Israel and “shape a legacy that endures”.
UN special rapporteur on human rights Ben Saul told the National Press Club in Canberra that the proposals for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the restoration of aid were welcome.
But Professor Saul said key elements of the plan “raise red flags under international law”.
“History suggests we should be sceptical of peace without justice, peace at any price, and plans imposed by outsiders without Palestinian consent,” Professor Saul said.
“In particular, the transitional government proposed is not representative, excludes the Palestinian Authority, does not respect self-determination, and lacks legitimacy.”
He said there were also neither concrete benchmarks nor time frames for achieving representative governance in Gaza, and the prospects for self-determination and statehood were “vague”.
