Labor in a Middle East ‘two-state daydream’, says Peter Beattie

Labor elder Peter Beattie has condemned the Albanese government’s core Middle East policies, warning that a two-state solution is a ‘daydream’ unless Israel’s enemies accept its right to exist.

Former Queensland Labor premier Peter Beattie warns the public debate on the Middle East conflict has been 'hijacked by extremists'. Picture: Britta Campion/AFP

Labor elder Peter Beattie has ­condemned the Albanese government’s core Middle East policies, warning that a two-state solution is a “daydream” unless Israel’s ­enemies accept its right to exist, and that ceasefires will fail without the backing of the region and major powers.

In the strongest critique yet by a senior ALP figure of the government’s position on Israel, the ­former Queensland premier writes in The Australian that ­public debate on the Middle East conflict has been “hijacked by ­extremists” amid a collapse in ­political leadership.

The scathing assessment comes amid a push by Anthony Albanese at the ASEAN summit in Laos for a consensus statement on the conflict, which would require Australia to align its position on ­Israel with those of Muslim-­majority nations Indonesia, ­Malaysia and Brunei.

The move could further complicate the government’s domestic challenges on the issue, which were inflamed on Thursday when cabinet minister and Western Sydney MP Jason Clare accused the Netanyahu government of war crimes. Mr Clare, whose western Sydney seat of Blaxland is home to one of the nation’s biggest ­Muslim populations, told the ABC: “The bombing of schools and the ­bombing of hospitals, I think, are not complying with international law.”

The accusation came as the IDF said a hospital it targeted in Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp on Wednesday was a command and control centre used by Hamas ­terrorists.

With Labor’s stance on the war looming as a key election issue in western Sydney and a raft of inner-city seats, The Australian can also reveal the government is rolling out $30m in funding for Australia’s Palestinian and Muslim communities. The grant funding for community organisations and social-cohesion programs began flowing in June as Labor targets 161,418 Muslim voters in the ­western Sydney seats of five ­cabinet ministers including Mr Clare and Home Affairs ­Minister Tony Burke.

Writing in The Australian, Mr Beattie takes aim at the government’s demands for a clear ­timetable to secure Palestinian statehood, and for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.

“On foreign policy, a two-state solution in the Middle East is a daydream unless all parties accept Israel’s right to exit as the first step,” he says. “A peace plan will fail unless it is led by Arab Nations and Israel and with all parties ­accepting Israel’s right to exist.”

He says a ceasefire is a “noble objective” but without a comprehensive peace plan backed by Middle Eastern countries and the major powers, “it will only be a pause before the next battle”.

In a veiled critique of the Prime Minister, Mr Beattie says Western leaders have become “public ­policy cowards”, undermining public debate.

“Western democracy cannot function successfully in this cesspit of downward-spiralling gibberish which now passes as leadership,” he writes.

“Australia is not exempt The public debate on the conflict in the Middle East has been hijacked by extremists. This is exactly what happened to the Yes case during the voice referendum, when leading advocates like Megan Davis were sidelined.”

Mr Albanese told the ASEAN-Australia forum in Laos on Thursday that achieving a consensus on the conflict would be tougher than it was in March, when the bloc agreed to a watered-down statement at a special summit in ­Melbourne.

“Consensus has always been at the core of ASEAN. This does not mean we begin in complete agreement on every single issue or indeed set that as the measure of success,” the Prime Minister said.

“Instead it means being prepared to engage in dialogue and seek out common ground, even when the questions are complex, even when division is easy and unity is hard.”

Indonesia and Malaysia ­pushed in Melbourne for a forceful denunciation of Israel but the final statement from the summit was more general, condemning attacks on civilians and calling for “an immediate and durable ­humanitarian ceasefire”.

Mr Clare’s accusation of Israeli war crimes came just days after his cabinet colleague Mark Butler ­delivered Labor’s most forceful defence of Israel since the ­October 7 massacre, declaring “no self-­respecting nation would fail to defend itself if attacked the way Israel has been”.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said Australians were scratching their heads trying to understand what the government’s position was on Israel’s multi-front war against Iran’s terrorist proxies. “The Prime Minister said (on Wednesday) that Australia is in lock-step with the US on Israel, but Jason Clare’s comments today are certainly not the position of the US government,” Mr Leibler said.

“Jason Clare, a senior cabinet minister who is also the responsible minister overseeing the worst rise in anti-Semitism on university campuses, is making very serious accusations against a friend of Australia which has not been the official position of the federal ­government to date. The government must clarify its position and pull the Education Minister into line if he’s gone against government policy.”

Mr Clare said his community was different from most of Australia, which saw the Middle East conflict as a war on the other side of the world. “For my community, the people that we see images of dying on our TV screens are often family or friends,” he said. “They’re asking for the killing to stop, for the slaughter to stop, for the starvation of children to stop.”

Australia’s political and community divisions over Israel are becoming increasingly bitter, ­cruelling hopes for a bipartisan parliamentary tribute for the ­victims of the October 7 massacre on Monday.

Mr Albanese refused on ­Wednesday to join with the US in backing strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon despite insisting Australia had “always supported the same position as the United States”.

In a move considered by some Labor insiders as an electoral pitch to Islamic voters, the government is rolling out $25m in grant ­funding targeting “Australian ­Palestinian, Muslim and other communities” impacted by the Hamas-Israel conflict.

A further $5m has been allocated to support the “urgent needs of Palestinian and Muslim communities in Australia”.

Days before Israel launched its major assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Department of Home Affairs opened up grant ­applications under the government’s $5.6m Australian Pal­estinian, Muslim and Arab Communities support program. Applications close next Wednesday, with the awarding of grants ­finalised by March next year ahead of the federal election.

Separate funding of $7m has been allocated for programs “combating racism, Islamophobia and reducing misinformation/disinformation”.

The government has authorised 32 “supporting Palestinian-Australian and Muslim Communities” grants since June, to recipients including the Iranian Association, Muslim Women’s Association, Islamic Multicultural Association, Australian Lebanese Association, Australian Arab Association, Al-Furquan, Australian Refugee Association and the Islamic Society of Victoria. The United Muslims of Australia Centre received $1.65m last month.

The government handed $25m to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry last year for improved security at Jewish schools and preschools.