The contrast between the Albanese government’s actions against the Israeli ambassador and the Iranian ambassador is yet another illustration of what a feeble, morally confused and poor government this is when it comes to national security.
The Albanese government says Israel has the right to defend itself. Israel is a democracy and an ally. But when the Albanese government decided it didn’t like Israel’s action in Gaza it hauled in Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon and had him dressed down by government minister Tim Watts.
On the other hand, when the Iranian ambassador posted a blatantly anti-Semitic, pro-genocidal tweet to the effect that he hoped the “Zionist plague” would be “wiped out” by 2027, the response was weaker.
Numerous government ministers, including the Prime Minister, seemed not to be aware of the matter until asked about it by reporters.
The Iranian diplomat was indeed called in and spoken to by officials in the foreign affairs department.
This is clearly a lower level of rebuke for the representative of the chief state sponsor of terrorism in the world, than was meted out to the representative of the Middle East’s only democracy and Australia’s long-time friend and ally.
The fact that there are at least several hundred thousand Australians in important electorates who effectively hate Israel is surely entirely coincidental.
You think?
Peter Dutton’s opposition argues that the Iranian ambassador should be expelled for his comments. They quite possibly breach Australia’s hate speech laws, but the ambassador enjoys diplomatic immunity.
The Iranian government’s view of Israel will not be affected by anything Canberra says or does. But that doesn’t mean we must accept its representatives can say and do anything they want to in Australia. They can hold and espouse whatever repugnant views they like, but they don’t have the right to live in Australia.
The ambassador should have been rebuked directly by Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade might argue that that would have given him enhanced status. That’s nonsense. It would have given Australia’s rebuke enhanced status.
DFAT is like the old Catholic clerical diplomats who specialised in masterful inactivity; it always has a sound reason for doing nothing, or if it must do something, doing the absolute minimum.
If the Iranian ambassador is not to be expelled for this gross threat of violence and actual genocide (a word wildly overused, but how else can you characterise the call for the “Zionist plague” to be “wiped out”), then at least the Foreign Minister should state clearly that this is the ambassador’s first and final warning, that any repeat will see him declared persona non grata.
DFAT and the government think it’s tremendously important to keep up a dialogue with Tehran. But apart from begging for the release of our citizens spasmodically taken hostage in Iran, the whole sum of Canberra’s entire dialogue with Tehran would not be worth a cup of coffee at Aussie’s Cafe in Parliament House.
Process has its limits and shouldn’t furnish an excuse for moral vacuity.
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