Coalition to throw Australia’s support behind Israel in campaign pledges

A Peter Dutton-led government would deport non-citizens who voice rhetorical support for terror groups and demand the Australian Broadcasting Corporation avoid bias on Israel, according to a keynote speech home affairs spokesman James Paterson will deliver outlining the Coalition’s pledges.

Portraying the bloody war in Gaza and Lebanon as a battle for democracy, Paterson will say Australian Jews were being held responsible for “difficult choices” Israel was forced to make in its fight against terror groups supported by Iran.

Liberal frontbencher James Paterson.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Paterson will say that a Coalition government will strengthen the laws used by police to lay charges on incitement and displaying terror symbols if they prove too difficult to enforce.

“I am deeply troubled by the number of Jews who have told me they are contemplating moving to Israel because they think they may feel safer in a country under attack from three terrorist organisations and a genocidal nation state than they do in Melbourne or Sydney,” he will say in a speech to the Executive Council of the Australian Jewry’s annual general meeting in Melbourne on Sunday. “But I understand it.”

The Coalition has sought to tie community unrest in Australia over Gaza to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s actions, portraying him as soft on antisemitism as Labor has gradually shifted support away from Israel through key United Nations votes and actions such as blocking the visa of a former Israeli minister, Ayelet Shaked, on character grounds.

The opposition has refrained from criticising Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign even as the United Nations, European Union and International Criminal Court condemn his actions, marking the Coalition as one of the most pro-Israel centre-right parties in the Western world.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led terrorists stormed across the border, killed 1200 people and seized more than 250 hostages on October 7, 2023. Since then, the Israeli attack has killed nearly 44,000 Palestinians in Gaza, much of which has been laid to waste.

On Friday, the Coalition released a statement saying Australia should reject the ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif.

As a signatory to the agreement recognising the court, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Friday Australia respected the court’s independence but did not endorse or oppose its decision or say what the government would do if any of the men set foot here.

Paterson is incredulous about Australia’s decision to deny entry to Shaked, a former minister for justice who made headlines last year calling for all Gazans to be deported and the southern city of Khan Younis turned into a soccer field.

Israel’s foreign ministry on Friday night posted a statement describing the decision as “deeply offensive”.

“We will not – and I can’t believe I need to say this – ban former Israeli ministers from centrist governments from visiting Australia,” Paterson will say, according to a version of the speech provided to this masthead.

“Nor would we – and again I can’t believe this needs to be said – arrest the democratically elected head of a friendly government for the crime of defending his country. We will never abandon our ally in international forums like the United Nations.”

Paterson singled out protests on campus and reporting on public broadcasters as a focus for any future Coalition government.

“We will not allow antisemitism to fester on campus unchecked. We will not allow our taxpayer-funded arts and cultural institutions to be hijacked. We will make clear we expect accurate and impartial reporting from our publicly funded broadcasters,” Paterson will say in the speech.

“We will do this not only for the Jewish community but for our country. Because a country that is not safe for Jews is not safe for anyone.”

Palestinian and Israeli supporters confront each other at Monash University on May 8, 2024. Credit: Justin McManus

Labor had equivocated on the antisemitism outbreak, Paterson will argue, by “always” mentioning Islamophobia in the same breath as antisemitism.

“There is no other form of racism we treat like this. If there is an instance of racism against Indigenous Australians, for example, no political leader says, ‘I condemn anti-Indigenous racism and anti-Asian racism.’ All forms of racism should be called out when it occurs,” he said.

In the six months from October 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 figures from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry show there was a 427 per cent increase in the number of anti-Jewish incidents from the same period the year before.

Reports to the Islamophobia Register Australia had risen by 1300 per cent compared with the same period the year before.

Signalling there could be Coalition funding cuts to the UN agency responsible for aid for Palestinians, Paterson said no money would be given to agencies employing terrorists.

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