Bid to defuse tensions as Victorian Labor faces Gaza ‘split’

Israeli and Palestinian supporters in the Victorian ALP remain locked in high-stakes talks in a bid to defuse an eruption of tension at Labor’s state conference.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Labor member for MacNamara Josh Burns are greeted by Rabbi Yaakov Glasman during a visit to the St Kilda Shule in Melbourne shortly after the Hamas terror attack on October 7. Picture: AAP Image/James Ross

Israeli and Palestinian supporters in the Victorian ALP remain locked in high-stakes talks in a bid to defuse an eruption of tension at Labor’s state conference.

Amid an escalating threat of an internal showdown over the war in Gaza at the key meeting, ­security fears are also emerging with hard-left groups calling on supporters to join an anti-Israel rally outside the event being staged at Moonee Valley Racecourse.

Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns, the federal MP for Macnamara, and other pro-Israeli supporters have been attempting to negotiate a compromise to convince Labor’s pro-Palestinian faction to remove inflammatory language from any motion debated at the May 18-19 conference.

Macnamara MP Josh Burns. Picture: Supplied

Mr Burns, whose electorate covers Jewish heartland Melbourne suburbs such as Caulfield, St Kilda East and Balaclava, has previously said the ALP must “find a resolution where we express the values of the Labor Party ... that demonstrates our longstanding commitment to human rights and the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis”.

Mr Burns declined to comment on Sunday on the progress of the talks.

Palestinian supporters in the party’s majority Left faction are behind a push to move a motion at the state conference, which ­ Anthony Albanese and Premier Jacinta Allan are expected to ­attend.

Israel supporters in the ALP are concerned that the motion at the event – the first state conference since the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel – will be loaded with anti-Israeli sentiments, provoking a bitter debate that could split the party.

“Some of the pro-Palestine faction in Labor and the union movement are more to the left than the Greens,” one ALP figure said.

Another pro-Israeli figure within the ALP said that unless a moderate motion was put forward by the Left, a bitter debate would almost certainly be ignited.

“We’re not in the mood for haggling on this issue; if we don’t like it, we will argue against it,” the figure said.

The Australian has previously reported that the motion could be strongly critical of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, raise the issue of Jewish settlements and demand the Australian government backs international legal action that has accused Israel of committing genocide.

The potential for a damaging internal split within the ALP at the state conference has increased as anti-Israeli sentiment has grown within the union ­movement.

The ACTU chose the eve of Passover last month to issue its strongest statement against Israel since the Hamas terror attack, calling on the Albanese government to end military trade with ­Israel, enforce targeted sanctions against Israeli government officials and ­inject a further $100m of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank.

In its statement, the ACTU also demanded the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Victorian ALP’s state conference could also trigger clashes with various pro-Palestinian groups, some linked to unions, calling for supporters to rally outside the venue.

One poster accused the federal and state branches of the Victorian ALP as being “complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza”.

“Bring your disapproval to their doorstep,” the poster states, before going on to list three demands: “Elbit (an Israeli-linked company) out of Victoria, Labor to cancel contracts with Israel” and “break the siege! End the ­occupation!”