Luke Foley’s MPs must meet Palestinians

The NSW ALP leader has directed all state Labor MPs travelling to Israel to spend equal time meeting Palestinians.

NSW Labor opposition leader Luke Foley has been seen as a moderate in the party on Middle East policy.

NSW Labor leader Luke Foley has directed all state Labor MPs travelling to Israel with the benefit of financial or in-kind assistance to spend equal time meeting with Palestinians in Gaza or on the West Bank.

Mr Foley’s unprecedented intervention — widely seen within Labor as an attempt to ensure MPs are not overly influenced by the ­Israel lobby — comes as the party navigates a fractious debate on Middle East policy at the national conference in July.

Mr Foley has been seen as a moderate in the party on Middle East policy and says his new travel requirement for Labor MPs is to ensure they gain a balanced perspective on issues that divide the region. “I support a two-state solution,” he told The Australian. “I am a member of the Parliamentary Friends of Israel and the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine, and will continue to be so.

“Arabic community leaders put this argument to me about trips to Israel and their desire that parliamentarians get a first-hand view of the life of Palestinians when they are in the region.

“In the spirit of a two-state ­solution, I thought that was a perfectly reasonable argument.”

The new rules will require MPs who are assisted in any way with travel to Israel to spend an equivalent amount of time meeting ­Palestinians outside of Israel on the same visit.

Mr Foley’s intervention comes as Labor faces a huge push from in its ranks to strengthen its support for Palestinians in response to what many perceive as an increasingly belligerent stand by Israel, accentuated by the re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu’s centre-right government last month.

Many want stronger pressure applied to Israel to agree on a peace process to work towards a two-state solution.

Local Labor branches, particularly in NSW, have passed reso­lutions condemning Israel and expressing strong support for the Palestinian people.

A motion passed by the NSW Labor state conference in July last year said that if moves towards a two-state solution remained stal­led then a Labor government should consider providing recognition to a Palestinian state regard­less of Israel’s view.

This is stridently opposed by some in the Victorian Labor Right faction.

Mr Foley said he understood the concerns many inside the party had over the spread of Israeli settlements, the bellicose statements of some Israeli politicians and the lack of progress towards peace.

“Many social democratic friends of Israel are disappointed with numerous decisions of the Netanyahu government,” he said.

“Netanyahu’s actions in the final days of the recent election campaign have dismayed many people.”

Mr Foley also urged NSW Premier Mike Baird to introduce the same travel requirements for Coalition MPs. It was ­essential MPs were exposed to different views on this issue.

“I am perfectly relaxed about Labor MPs going to Israel, but I think Palestinians make a good case that they would like to show those MPs the experiences their people are going through at the same time,” he said.