Labor ‘guilty of outrageous abandonment’ over Israel

Revelations that Israel’s ambassador was told it could not expect Australia’s support in a war in Southern Lebanon has sparked outrage.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Israel’s ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon.

The Albanese government has warned Israel not to escalate its conflict with Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon as the terrorist group continues to rain down missiles on the Jewish state.

In a move condemned by the Coalition as “outrageous”, Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon was hauled in by Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts about a fortnight ago for a dressing down over his country’s military operations against Hamas and Hezbollah.

The extraordinary diplomatic step, first reported by the Herald Sun, comes amid preparations by Israel for a war with Hezbollah, whose missile attacks on northern Israel have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians.

“In that meeting, there was an expression about our concern in seeing the conflict in the Middle East escalate and particularly escalate in respect of Lebanon,” Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said. “That position was put very clearly by the Assistant Minister Watts.”

He said the move was driven by the government’s hopes for peace and its concern for about 20,000 Australians currently in Lebanon.

Confirmation of the meeting came as Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander following almost nine months of missile attacks by the terrorist group on Israel.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said telling Israel not to defend itself was an “outrageous abandonment of a democratic friend and partner”.“Hezbollah is a listed terrorist organisation in Australia which repeatedly ignores previous undertakings by indiscriminately firing rockets aiming to kill Israelis and displacing thousands from their homes,” he said. “We do not wish to see any spreading of the current war in Gaza but the pressure needs to be on Hezbollah to stop their attacks while maintaining support for Israel’s inherent right to self defence.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she instructed Mr Watts to call in Israel’s envoy, but declared “we do not leak private conversations”. “Our message is the same wherever we go, with everyone, and everyone we talk to: ceasefire, protection of civilians, return of hostages, diplomatic solution,” she said. “Since the conflict began, we have called for restraint from all parties.”

Mr Maimon was unavailable for comment.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the Albanese government should reflect on the UN’s ruling in 2006 that the country’s southern border region should be demilitarised. “It is anything but,” Senator Paterson said. “It is exactly where Hezbollah is operating from and launching these attacks against Israel.”

Labor MP Tim Watts. Picture: AAP

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said he was surprised by Mr Watt’s message to Mr Maimon, given Hezbollah was “a proscribed terrorist organisation, clearly the aggressor in this situation, and has caused the internal displacement of 60,000 Israelis due to its illegal ­attacks and threats of invasion”.

“The US has said it will back ­Israel for these very reasons,” Mr Leibler said. “We would expect all Western governments to place real pressure on Iran and Hezbollah, and this includes by fully backing Israel’s right to defend its people and its sovereignty.”

Israel killed Hezbollah commander Mohammed Nimah Nasser in an airstrike on Wednesday in its latest targeted attack on the terrorist group’s senior leadership.

The Israeli military said Nasser commanded a key Hezbollah rocket unit responsible for a “large number of terror attacks”. His killing prompted a barrage of 100 rockets into northern Israel, sparking fires but no ­reported injuries. Israel has been preparing a phased pullout from Gaza to prepare for war with Hezbollah, which officials have warned could be a much more devastating conflict than that with Hamas.

Additional reporting: Agencies