January 18, 2024
Foreign affairs correspondent Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said Australia stands in solidarity with Israel and the victims of the October 7 terror attacks but has stressed to senior politicians that democracies are held to a higher standard and Australians have been alarmed by the high civilian death toll in Gaza.
Arriving in Jerusalem on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT),Senator Wong had separate meetings with Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz and President Isaac Herzog before meeting family members of some of the 240hostages taken by Hamas.
"The most powerful thing was the opportunity and the privilege of speaking with the families of hostages," Senator Wong said.
"It was incredibly moving, and these 102 day shave been just devastating for them, and I'm really grateful for that opportunity."
In her hour-long meeting with the hostages' families, she told them she admired their strength to continue advocating for their loved ones during an immensely painful time.
"I'm really profoundly grateful that you are willing to speak with me... our nation stands in solidarity with Israel and with you," she said.
However, Senator Wong's announcement of $6 million for the United Nations Relief Works Agency which provides services for Palestinian refugees as part of a $21.5 million foreign aid package, has come under criticism.
Opposition frontbencher James Paterson said UNRWA had been implicated in the past for inadvertently funding Hamas while its schools had been linked to teaching anti semitic content.
"UNRWA is an organisation [through] which we cannot be assured Australian taxpayers' money is well spent... I am concerned, and I do want the government to be able to reassure Australians that taxpayers' money won't end up finding its way to Hamas," he said.
Speaking in Jordan on her way to Israel, Senator Wong said Australia did not accept the "premise" of South Africa's genocide case in the International Court of Justice against Israel, giving the government's firmest response yet on a legal action that has split Western and Muslim countries.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese added yesterday: "We're not participants in this. That doesn't mean that we agree with some of the assumptions that are there in the South African case at all. It means that we respect the independence of the ICJ and the role that they are playing."
In her meetings with Mr Katz and Mr Herzog, Senator Wong unequivocally condemned the terror attack that killed about 1200Israelis, and said Australia recognised the Jewish state's right to defend itself.
Describing Australia as a "friend of Israel", she reinforced the view that how Israel defended itself mattered, and said Australians had strong concerns about the civilian death toll which has passed 24,000 Gazans according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry and the "dire" humanitarian situation.
But, while steps needed to be taken towards a cease fire, it could not be one sided, Senator Wong said.
Echoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, she said Australia wanted a pathway out of the conflict and progress towards a just and enduring peace that allowed Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.
"We too are a democracy. And because of who we are, we do advocate for consistently the application of international law and international humanitarian law," Senator Wong told Mr Herzog.
"So when we say that the way that Israel defends itself matters, that springs from who we are."
Senator Wong discussed the broader security tensions across the Middle East, including the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels' missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea, and the need to prevent a regional escalation.
She was to travel to the West Bank later yesterday for talks with the Palestinian Authority, including meetings with Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki.
