Penny Wong ‘misrepresented’ Zomi Frankcom findings, Israeli embassy says

The Israeli embassy has accused the Albanese government of misrepresenting the findings of its hand-picked adviser on the drone strikes that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.

Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom. Picture: World Central Kitchen / AFP

The Israeli embassy has accused the Albanese government of misrepresenting the findings of its hand-picked adviser on the drone strikes that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, after Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the attack was “intentional”.

Former defence chief Mark ­Binskin found the April 1 attack that killed Ms Frankcom and six of her colleagues was “not knowingly or deliberately” directed at the World Central Kitchen aid convoy they were travelling in.

He also revealed there were armed men in the convoy that “gave the appearance of the presence of Hamas”, and could not rule out the aid group had inadvertently hired security guards with links to the terrorist group.

But Senator Wong made no mention of the armed men – including one who was seen in drone footage firing into the air – when she released the report on Friday.

“I want to start by saying the deaths of Ms Frankcom and her colleagues were inexcusable,” Senator Wong said. “We condemn the Israeli strikes that caused them. Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues from World Central Kitchen were killed in an intentional strike by the IDF.”

The Israeli embassy said on Monday: “The Australian government’s statement about the report regrettably included some misrepresentations and omitted crucial details with respect to the manner in which the report was conducted, the degree of co-operation and openness exhibited by the IDF, and even with respect to certain aspects of the tragic incident itself.”

The embassy said Air Chief Marshal Binskin’s fact-finding mission was supported by the Israeli Defence Forces, despite his lack of investigative authority or mandate, to ensure the Australian public could understand how the tragedy occurred. “The report explicitly reaffirms that the IDF is a professional and disciplined army, with similar legal views, standards and controls in place to mitigate the risks of war (as) the ADF,” it said in a statement.

Air Chief Marshal Binskin. Picture: Kym Smith

It said the IDF had taken “full responsibility” for the tragedy, as Air Chief Marshal Binskin found, and had dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others.

The embassy noted the report’s findings that “the ADF could not have imposed equivalent reprimands as quickly as the IDF” had been able to do. It said the IDF had also taken steps to improve its co-ordination with aid organisations to minimise the risk that such a tragedy could happen again.

“Israel will continue to work hand-in-hand with the international community to co-ordinate and assist the activity of aid organisations, in order to address the needs of the population and improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” the embassy said.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the report confirmed Israel’s accountability and transparency, raising questions over the government’s motives in seeking an “unprecedented review of a foreign government’s military operations”.

In his report, Air Chief Marshal Binskin said the IDF had been accountable for what occurred and moved quickly to hold those responsible to account, while its targeting procedures were similar to those used by the Australian Defence Force.

He said the use of armed guards was a contravention of WCK policy that its “security personnel were never armed – either openly or discreetly”.

“I cannot rule out that WCK inadvertently contracted security for the aid convoy with an entity that had links to Hamas,” Air Chief Marshal Binskin said in the public version of his report.