Under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — no connection to the UN’s viperous queen of antisemitism, Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on Conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, save in his lack of sympathy for Israel — Australia’s relations with Israel have taken a turn for the worse. Under Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, they were very warm, and now they are best described as Laodicean.
Here are three incidents that demonstrate the growing anti-Israel animus in the Australian government: “Australia’s changing stance on Israel is a troubling shift,” by Gregory Lyakhov, JNS, March 6, 2025:
Australia has, for decades, stood as a firm ally of Israel, bound by shared democratic values, economic cooperation and a commitment to global security. Yet, today, that bond seems to be breaking….
For instance, in October 2022, his government abruptly reversed Australia’s recognition of “West Jerusalem” as Israel’s capital, a decision made by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2018. The move shocked Israel and was widely seen as a symbolic gesture to all critics of the Jewish state.
After the terrorist attacks in southern Jewish communities in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, while key Western allies like the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany immediately affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, Australia’s response was lukewarm at best. Albanese condemned the attack but quickly pivoted to calls for “proportionality” in Israel’s response.
Australia further distanced itself in February 2024 when it abstained from a U.N. vote condemning Israel for its response to the Oct. 7 attacks rather than voting “no” on the measure. This decision drew sharp criticism from Israel’s supporters.
But there is someone — the leader of the opposition Peter Dutton — whose possible political ascendancy holds out the hope of a renewal of warm relations between Australia and Israel. The next parliamentary election — the prime minister is not chosen directly, but by the members of Parliament — will take place this May.
More on Peter Dutton can be found here: “Dutton pledges UNRWA cut, Israel relations reset,” Australian Jewish News, March 21, 2025:
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has vowed to cut funding to the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA and repair Australia’s relationship with Israel if the Coalition wins the upcoming federal election in May.
In a strongly-worded speech to the Lowy Institute on Thursday outlining his foreign policy vision, Dutton criticised the Albanese government’s approach to Israel, describing it as “one of the Albanese Government’s most egregious foreign policy failures”.
“Given UNRWA has employed terrorists from Hamas who participated in the 7 October attacks, the organisation will no longer receive aid funding from a government I lead,” Dutton declared.
The Opposition Leader promised that if elected Prime Minister, “one of my first orders of business will be to call [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu – to build on the one-on-one meeting I had with him during my recent visit – and to help rebuild the relationship Labor has trashed.”
Dutton met Netanyahu while in Israel mid-last year, on a trip facilitated by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).
Dutton accused the Albanese government of treating Israel “like an adversary” rather than an ally, claiming Labor had “adopted adversarial positions towards Israel to shore-up Labor votes in certain seats where there are, undeniably, anti-Israel and antisemitic views.”…
Dutton is referring to the Muslims in Australia, of whom there are now nearly 900,000, and in particular to Lebanese Muslim immigrants, whom Dutton has in the past linked to a rise in crime.
Albanese and the opposition headed by Dutton are now running neck-and-neck in the opinion polls. Down under, things are looking up.
Tim gallagher says
I hope that the liberal, our conservatives, and national, our rural party, coalition can win the election that is coming up soon. I think Peter Dutton would be a good prime minister. He is tough enough and has enough conviction to do a good job. Historically, governments usually get a second term. If Albanese and his left wing mates get a second term Australia probably never recover from their idiotic policies. And, of course, Albanese and his government are, like leftist wankers everywhere, anti Israel and pro Palestine.
James Lincoln says
Tim Gallagher,
Thanks for perking my interest, and I did a little bit of research:
Apparently, the 2025 Australian federal election will be held on or before 17 May 2025.
Yes, the current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (Labor) is an absolute disaster.
Liberal/National Coalition under opposition leader Peter Dutton may be able to turn things around.
Wishing Australia the best – looks like is for all the marbles just like the US in the 2024 US Presidential Election.
Tim, what are Peter Dutton’s chances?
James Lincoln says
Tim Gallagher,
Thanks for perking my interest, and I did a little bit of research:
Apparently, the 2025 Australian federal election will be held on or before 17 May 2025.
Yes, the current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (Labor) is an absolute disaster.
Liberal/National Coalition under opposition leader Peter Dutton may be able to turn things around.
Wishing Australia the best – looks like is for all the marbles just like the US in the 2024 US Presidential Election.
Tim, what are Peter Dutton’s chances?
Tim gallagher says
I hope that they can manage to win, James. A friend of mine, Chris, a fellow conservative, says that Australia is finished if Albanese and his left wing get back again and I agree. As I hear quite often, Australia used to have cheap energy, with huge amounts of coal, uranium etc, but because the left wing Albanese mob have ditched coal and are going for solar and wind, we have really expensive energy and we are going down the drain economically. All I can say is, I hope the conservatives can win. I believe in democracy but we have lots of clueless people voting. But a lot of people out here are doing it tough and are pissed off with Albanese useless govt.
James Lincoln says
Thanks for your very informative reply, Tim.
Wishing your Australia the very best.
James Lincoln says
Thanks for your very informative reply, Tim.
Wishing your Australia the very best.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Tim
Thanks for your inputs about Australia. I do hope Peter Dutton wins
Also, I hope that if and when he does, he transfers the embassy back to Jerusalem: there is no such thing as “West Jerusalem” or “East Jerusalem”: this is not Berlin. Also that he derecognize the State of Palestine if Albanese happens to have recognized it
On a different note, I also hope he brings back John Howard’s policy of limiting immigration, particularly from muslim countries
Tim gallagher says
James and infidel, I am always happy to give my point of view on Australia. I certainly hope Dutton can become prime minister. Albanese has been atrocious. There are plenty of problems that need to be fixed. I’m sure relations with Israel would fixed. Immigration might be changed because the Muslim anti semitism has been on display, hate preachers etc and might have woken people up. Immigration has been too high and there is a shortage of housing and rents and cost of houses is insane these days in the major cities.
gravenimage says
Thanks for that background, Tim.
Cynthia says
The leftist/Islamic alliance is ruining so many countries. I hope Australia, known for its love of freedom can get its nation back.
Gray H. says
The problem is that Peter Dutton seems to be the sole, principled Conservative in a Federal LNP full of Labor-lite clones. Most of them don’t have a conservative bone in their bodies, and they really should be representing the Labor Party. The last time Mr Dutton was Federal leader he was stabbed in the back by the ‘Progressive’ wing of the LNP. Peter Dutton is the only person who has any chance of leading the Federal LNP to victory, but I think, his Party colleagues will again stab him in the back, even if he does lead them to victory..
Tim gallagher says
It is a problem, that’s for sure, Gray h. Apart from Dutton, I like James Paterson, Matt Canavan, Michaelia cash and Andrew Hastie, but a lot of the liberals are too far to the left and belong in the Labor party.
sporticus says
A nuance: as I understand the Australian system, MPs don’t elect the Prime Minister in a direct way -they elect a leader of their Party. If the Party wins enough seats in a general election then it is without contest that the leader is nominated as Prime Minister and duly confirmed as such by the Governor who represents King Charles III, who lives in several places on the other side of the world.
So. there is no President. Australia is not a republic.
This is the same setup as in the U.K.
You may have wondered why the British Prime Minister seems to be lodged in such ordinary looking premises, coming out of No. 10 Downing Street to talk to the world at a lectern set up in the street. That’s a vestige of the PM’s inferior relation to the King centuries ago. The King then sent word from his palace to call parliament to assemble or to be dissolved. His Prime Minister sat in his little house down the road at the King’s. pleasure. That was the setup that led to the English Civil War and Cromwell. But after all that here we are in the 21st Century and we still have a King Charles and he still has his head. And his Prime Minister still sits in his little house.
There is one other hurdle for a party leader whose aim is to become Prime Minister or to continue as such. For example, Prime Minister Albanese is also the Member for the seat of Grayling. He will need to retain that seat in a General Election. A former Prime Minister, John Howard, did indeed lose his seat and so immediately resigned as leader of his party. John was gone. Unelected Kings and Queens are there for life but Prime Ministers come and go -it’s called a democracy.
skeptiker says
ALBANESE. Der Name ist Programm und Verpflichtung.
bazz says
To assist our overseas friends;
After the election you may see a delay and what appears to be confusion.
We have preferential voting. A ballot paper has the candidates listed in alphabetic order with a box alongside their name.
When you vote you number the candidates in order of your preference.
In a three corner vote a candidate who has the higher count may not win if the other candidates voters vote for the other candidate that is not the highest count.
This means a candidate not liked by a majority cannot win even if he has the highest count. It gets more complex if there are more than three candidates.
Parties suggest voters swap preferences for each other such as Labour and the Greens.
It does work well although some parties do not like it; tough !
࿗Infidel࿘ says
It’s known as ranked choice voting in the US. It’s fine when used for electing leaders within a party, so that one gets a “flavor” of what the voters want. It’s a bad choice for an open election, since one is forced to put the person they’re opposed to as #2, even if they wouldn’t vote for that party if hell froze over
Bazz says
The person who got the nmbr 2 in a two party contest is rejected..
You are NOT voting for him.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
In ranked choice voting, where there are >2 candidates, you are. Yeah, people could list say, a conservative, then all the others and then the leftist, but more often than not, that doesn’t happen. That’s why in Alaska, Republicans have been unable to oust Lisa Murkowski
gravenimage says
With ranked choice voting you do not *have* to vote each ranking if you don’t want to. If I have three choices and love one candidat, would be OK with another, and hate the last one, voting all three makes sense. But if you only like one, you just vote for that candidate in the #1 ranked spot, I just did that for the mayoral race here in Oakland.
gravenimage says
Australian Opposition Leader Criticizes Government’s Growing Anti-Israel Animus
……………………………..
Very troubling–but kudos to Peter Dutton for speaking out.