It was Labor foreign minister H.V. “Doc” Evatt who was credited as an instrumental voice in the founding of Israel, having recommended partition to the 1947 United Nations General Assembly as chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question.
Minister for Defence Richard Marles said earlier this month that Evatt considered the establishment of the state of Israel the “signature achievement of his public life”, as Evatt was recently honoured with the naming of the Doc Evatt room in Israel’s National Library in Jerusalem.
The party has, over the last half-century, grappled with its position on the conflict. Labor prime minister Ben Chifley recognised Israel, while Gough Whitlam shifted away after the Yom Kippur War. Bob Hawke was so staunchly pro-Israel that ASIO worried he’d be assassinated for his views. Julia Gillard likewise was vehemently pro-Israel, in a well-documented split with her foreign minister of the day, Bob Carr.
So as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens under Israel’s bombardment in the wake of Hamas’ attack on October 7, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has put out his hand, as Australia traditionally has, as one of Israel’s most staunch allies.
Labor supporters may have earnestly rejoiced at the end of the Morrison-era culture wars surrounding issues such as recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the location of the Australian embassy after Albanese’s election victory last year. Indeed, APAN-commissioned YouGov polling from 2022 found 60% of ALP voters support recognition of the state of Palestine, and almost as many support an end to the occupation.
The policy outcome when it comes to Gaza, particularly for the cynics amongst us, thus appears straightforward for the Albanese government. Not so — there appears to be no real clarity in this government’s position on the conflict.
While one of the first significant moves Albanese made post-election was to reverse the previous government’s decision to recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Albanese has consistently rejected the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, while in the same breath declaring himself a “strong advocate of justice for Palestinians”.
Albanese says he established the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine group in 2013 alongside former Liberal treasurer Joe Hockey, with Albanese its founding secretary, but when his office was contacted by Crikey, it would not confirm whether he remained a member of the group. In his valedictory speech for the outgoing Hockey in 2015, Albanese reflected on the difficulty of taking such a stand, noting the “humiliation which Palestinians were forced to undergo … each and every day” under the occupation.
Public statements made by the government in light of recent hostilities have regularly focused on Israel’s rights to defend itself, with Marles declaring last week that he thought Israel was acting “within the rules of war”. A government spokesperson did not confirm with Crikey whether this was consistent with DFAT or Defence advice, but referred to the prime minister’s remarks in question time which urged Israel to act “by the rules of war” and “unequivocally condemned the attack on Israel by Hamas”.
Albanese went on to describe the current hostilities as “the result of the attacks by Hamas” while acknowledging the “innocent civilians on all sides”, and that Parliament “supports justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike”.
As government MPs break ranks over Palestine, with frontbenchers Ed Husic and Anne Aly last week describing Israel’s actions as amounting to collective punishment, the Albanese government finds itself caught in one of the most significant moral quandaries of its term, and indeed one that will not go away quietly.
