Wong hits back at Netanyahu, links Israel to China, Russia

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has hit back at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by insisting that criticism of Israel is not necessarily antisemitic, as she infuriated Jewish groups by saying Australia expects Israel to comply with international law like authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China.

The backlash from pro-Israel groups to a significant foreign policy speech by Wong came as Jewish Labor backbencher Josh Burns accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of blocking a Liberal frontbencher’s plan to read a statement on his behalf on the day of the Melbourne synagogue firebombing.

Josh Burns (centre right) claims James Paterson (speaking) agreed to read out his words before Peter Dutton intervened.Credit: Arsineh Houspian

Delivering a speech in Adelaide on Monday night in honour of late prime minister Bob Hawke, Wong condemned the Adass Israel Synagogue bombing as “a shocking crime” aimed at causing terror in the community.

In a clear response to Netanyahu’s weekend claim that “anti-Israel sentiment is antisemitism” in a social media post attacking the Albanese government, Wong said: “It is not antisemitic to expect that Israel should comply with the international law that applies to all countries.

“Nor is it antisemitic to call for children and other civilians to be protected, or to call for a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.”

Saying that Australia respected the independence of the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza, Wong said: “Australia can’t pick and choose which rules we are going to apply.

“We expect Russia to abide by international law and end its illegal full-scale war on Ukraine.

“We expect China to abide by international legal decisions in the South China Sea.

“We also expect Israel to abide by international law.”

Wong later told reporters in Perth that she was not drawing a moral equivalence between Israel, Russia and China, but arguing that Australia has an interest in ensuring that all nations comply with international law.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia would comply with international law.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs executive director Colin Rubenstein accused Wong of peddling “historical distortions” and displaying a “distorted understanding of the tenets of international law”.

“Effectively equating Russia’s blatantly illegal, imperialist and arguably genocidal invasion of Ukraine and China’s blatantly illegal activity in the South China Sea with Israel’s entirely lawful war of self-defence is the type of moral relativism and factual confusion that undermines Australia’s authority and credibility on the world stage,” he said.

Simone Abel, legal director of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, accused Wong of unfairly singling Israel out for criticism, accusing her of rarely criticising unlawful killings by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, the now deposed Assad regime in Syria or civilian casualties in the war in Yemen.

“It’s deeply cynical for Foreign Minister Penny Wong to deploy the definition of antisemitism against the Jewish people to argue that there is no double standard in Australia’s foreign policy towards Israel,” she said.

Australia Palestine Advocacy Network President Nasser Mashni said: “We thank Penny Wong for her principled statement holding Israel accountable to the same international legal standards as every other nation.

“Her stance reinforces the important truth that no nation is above international law.”

Wong also criticised Dutton directly, two days after the opposition leader called on Albanese to “rein in” his foreign minister.

Referring to the international push for a two-state solution, Wong said: “It is for Mr Dutton to explain why he has walked away from decades of bipartisan support for it – and why he is insistent on reproducing the conflict here, rather than defending national unity.”

Burns, whose electorate of Macnamara contains the Adass Israel Synagogue, held a joint press conference with opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson on Friday after the firebombing.

Burns said because he had lost his voice at the time, Paterson agreed to read out a statement on his behalf expressing devastation at the attack and condemning antisemitism.

“Unfortunately, right before we got on … Peter Dutton told James that he wasn’t allowed to read out my words,” Burns told ABC Radio National.

“I wanted to stand out with James and present a united front on this. And Peter Dutton decided that it was more important to play partisan games than to allow my words that I physically couldn’t speak to be read out.”

Paterson issued a brief written statement in response.

“I feel very sorry that Josh Burns and his community have been abandoned by the Labor Party in the wake of this terrorist attack,” Paterson said. “But it is not the role of a Liberal frontbencher to act as a spokesman for a Labor MP. One of the many senior Albanese government ministers from Victoria should have been there to speak if Josh was not able to.”

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