Penny Wong will not go to October 7 massacre sites during Israel visit, sparking fury in Jerusalem
Penny Wong won’t visit the Israeli towns where the October 7 massacres occurred, marking another break in Australia’s position from some of its closest allies.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong will not visit the southern Israeli towns where the October 7 massacres occurred, marking another break in Australia’s position from some of its closest allies whose leaders have visited the Jewish state in the aftermath of terror group Hamas’s assault.
Senator Wong will meet survivors of the terrorist attacks that sparked the war between Israel and Hamas during a tour of the Middle East slated to begin this week. But she will not follow European and British officials, her opposition counterpart Simon Birmingham or former prime minister Scott Morrison in touring the sites where the most deadly attacks were inflicted on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
The Australian understands the Foreign Minister’s decision will concern Israeli government officials, and it is likely to spark anger among Australia’s Jewish community.
Senator Wong is scheduled to depart Australia on Monday for a week-long tour of the region, the first time a senior Albanese government minister has visited Israel since the events of October 7. The itinerary includes meetings with representatives in Jordan, Israel, the West Bank, and the United Arab Emirates.
It comes amid continuing military action being waged by the United States and Britain on Houthi rebels in Yemen over attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea, and as a second front in Israel’s war on Iranian proxies threatens to open up with Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon.
Choosing not to visit the towns and villages where Hamas launched its deadliest attacks signals yet another break from Western allies on Israel, following the Albanese government’s support for an immediate ceasefire at the UN General Assembly last month.
A spokeswoman for Senator Wong declined to comment on the decision, but The Australian understands time constraints prevented the Foreign Minister from touring the sites, located about a 90-minute drive from the Israeli capital, Jerusalem. Writing in The Australian on Monday, former Rudd-government minister and Labor Friends of Israel co-founder Mike Kelly said he believed it was incumbent on Senator Wong to visit the kibbutzim.
“She would gain a close, personal appreciation of the brutal, sadistic savagery and genocidal regional Islamist agenda of Hamas,” Mr Kelly said, in a piece co-written with Strategic Analysis Australia senior fellow Anthony Bergin. “Having this perspective should help form a sound position on Israel’s right and need to prosecute the war against Hamas and to ensure Israel, and the wider world, is never again subject to this kind of evil.”
Those who have visited the communities nearly wiped out by Hamas include the European Union’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
Others include German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, European parliament president Roberta Metsola, Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, Portuguese Foreign Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and former US vice-president Mike Pence.
Senator Birmingham and backbench Labor MPs Josh Burns and Michelle Ananda-Rajah also visited massacre sites last month during a joint parliamentary visit.
Mr Morrison visited sites during a joint trip with former British prime minister Boris Johnson.
Senator Wong’s decision aligns with that of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who hasn’t toured the sites. But Mr Blinken has just completed his fifth visit to Israel and the broader region since October 7, deployments that have centred on solidifying the US-Israeli partnership and high-stakes diplomacy to prevent a wider conflagration.
Canada and Japan’s foreign ministers did not visit southern Israeli communities on their recent visits either.
In remarks released ahead of her departure, Senator Wong signalled that her mission wasn’t one of solidarity with Israel and made several sharply disapproving statements of its role in the current conflict, saying the Jewish state “must respect international humanitarian law and conduct military operations lawfully”.
“The way Israel defends itself matters,” she said. “I will express our profound concern that there are increasingly few safe places for Gazans. I will reiterate our call for safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access so that food, water, fuel, medicine and essential assistance (can) reach people in desperate need, and so civilians can get to safety.”
But she also reiterated the Australian government’s condemnation of Hamas, the need for the terrorist group to surrender and to immediately return all Israeli hostages – some 132 of them – still being held in Gaza.
“Australia has consistently and unequivocally condemned Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks, the appalling loss of life, and the heinous acts of violence perpetrated in those attacks, including sexual violence. We continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages,” she said. “One hundred days since the October 7 terror attacks, this visit is about advocating for a pathway out of this conflict.”
Her visit to Israel comes at a time of wrinkles developing in relations with the Jewish state and as Australia begins distancing itself from pro-Israeli positions adopted by the nation’s AUKUS partners. Last month Australia broke with the UK and US to vote in favour of a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza during an emergency session of the UN general assembly. The US was one of 10 countries to vote against that resolution; the UK abstained, as did Germany and Ukraine.
The UN vote is likely to be a focal point of discussion between Senator Wong and her Israeli counterpart, as will Australia’s mysterious position on the case brought by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Those hearings began in The Hague last week, but unlike the UK or the US – both of which oppose South Africa’s application – the Albanese government has yet to reveal its position.
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