Australian Greens urge German counterparts to go harder on Israel

The Greens’ NSW branch has lashed the position of the German Greens on Israel, demanding the party’s sitting members more strongly condemn the Jewish state.

Greens leader Adam Bandt. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Greens’ NSW branch has lashed the position of the German Greens on Israel in a letter demanding the party’s sitting members, elected in the country responsible for the Holocaust, more strongly condemn the ­Jewish state.

As Australia faces increasing anti-Semitic attacks and the aversion of a mass casualty event after the discovery this month of a caravan filled with explosive apparently intended for Jewish targets, the NSW Greens released a letter urging their sister party to take a harder line on Israel.

“We are obliged to convey the mounting disquiet amongst our membership in light of the discrepancy between foundational Greens principles and the recent discharge of German Middle Eastern policy under the ministry of (Greens MP) Annalena Baerbock,” the letter said.

“We readily acknowledge the constraints in which (the Greens) have operated over this parliamentary term: being a junior partner in a coalition government and working within Germany’s established foreign policy positions. That said, in light of Israel’s grave breaches of international law and genocide, we feel that it is beyond time to lead with our Greens values of non-violence, social justice, and ecological sustainability.”

The letter – sent in the same week as the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz death camp liberation – noted that the NSW Greens were “greatly disturbed to read news reports of the approval of continued German armaments shipments to Israel”, along with figures showing defence export approvals by the German government to Israel had increased tenfold since 2022.

“The expanded export of these armaments to Israel by the German government is deplorable, as is the failure to condemn Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and ­aggression in Lebanon and Syria,” the letter stated. “Our further aspiration is for a greater awareness of, and action on, Green politics across the globe and in the Middle East in ­particular.”

No mention of a rise in anti-Semitism in Australia or across the world was made in the ­letter.

The Australian Greens was the only political party that refused to condemn Hamas after the Oct­ober 7 attacks in 2023 because of the motion’s wording, including the support for Israel’s right to defend itself, and have faced scrutiny for their response to the conflict and to the rise of anti-Semitism in Australia.

In the months that followed October 7, many senior Greens figures – including founder of the Jewish Greens Working Group in Victoria Daniel Coleman – quit the party.

Despite rarely condemning anti-Semitism without linking it to broader racism and Islamo­phobia, Adam Bandt appeared on Thursday to strengthen his response to the ­attacks against the Jewish community.

“The reports (of the caravan) out of Dural are extremely disturbing, he said on X.

“It is critical this incident is fully investigated and the perpetrators are brought to justice.

“The escalation of anti-Semitic attacks is unacceptable. My heart goes out to everyone in the Jewish community who is feeling less safe. The Greens unequivocally condemn these incidents.“

Greens racism spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi, who was criticised for her response to the anti-Israel vandalism of the Australian War Memorial for just being “some paint on a building”, did not address the discovery of the caravan or the reports of more anti-Semitic vandalism in Sydney on Thursday.

Monash University professor Philip Mendes said the Greens “could not conceive” of a world where hateful bigotry came from the left rather than the right of politics.

“I think basically the Greens ideologically believe anti-­Semitism only comes from the political right, (that) it can’t come from the left,” Professor Mendes, who is also Jewish, said.

“The Greens have done absolutely nothing to combat anti-Semitism. Not only have they done nothing to combat it, they have actively opposed attempts by ­government or the community to oppose it.”