Attorney-General’s push for peace during Israel visit
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will travel to Israel for talks with senior officials, reiterating calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus and Ambassador Amir Maimon
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will use this week’s visit to Israel to push for a peace deal in the region, as negotiators look to broker a ceasefire in the Middle East conflict.
Mr Dreyfus will meet Israeli officials during the trip, as well as visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The visit by the senior cabinet minister, who is Jewish, was originally slated to be made in October to coincide with the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, but was postponed due to violence in the region caused by Hezbollah.
Mr Dreyfus said he would call for the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas, as well as reiterate support for a ceasefire as endorsed by the UN’s Security Council.
“I will restate Australia’s long-standing position that peace in the Middle East can only be achieved through a two-state solution – with Israelis and Palestinians living securely and prosperously within internationally recognised borders,” he said.
“In my meetings with Israeli officials I will convey Australia’s support for Israel’s security and its right to defend itself in the face of terrorism.
“I will also visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories and make clear Australia’s support for Palestinians’ right to self-determination and commitment to meeting humanitarian needs in Gaza and the West Bank.”
The visit comes as mediators say they have made significant progress in moving towards a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages, but a formal agreement is yet to be reached.
US officials have been working for months to bring about a ceasefire deal, following more than a year of fighting in the current conflict.
Israel’s war in Gaza was sparked by a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that killed 1200 people and resulted in 250 hostages being taken, according to Israeli authorities.
While Australia had come under fire from Israeli officials for supporting a series of UN resolutions urging for a ceasefire, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the visit to Israel by Mr Dreyfus was standard procedure.
“People regularly visit friendly nations, there is nothing surprising about that,” he told reporters on the NSW South Coast on Tuesday.
“The Attorney-General was due to go in October, due to what was happening on the ground there with attacks from the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, that visit didn’t go ahead then and it was deferred until January.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton reiterated the coalition’s support for Israel, indicating he would use his prime ministership to strengthen ties with the Middle East nation.
“We should remind ourselves that that is an important relationship. We should seek to nurture and grow it,” he told reporters in Ipswich.
“One of my first calls after the election will be to the prime minister of Israel, and it will be a priority for our government to mend that relationship quickly, because it’s in our national interest to do so.”
Israel’s ambassador to Australia met with Mark Dreyfus yesterday. He tweeted: “This morning, I had the pleasure of meeting with Attorney-General MarkDreyfus ahead of his upcoming visit to Israel. I wish him a successful and meaningful trip, and I am confident that it will lead to positive outcomes for our nations.”
Peter Wertheim, co-CEO of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said: “Australia has no more reliable friend and partner in the Middle East than Israel, and there is no country in the Middle East whose values are more aligned with Australia’s than Israel. So the Attorney-General’s mission is as important as it will be difficult. The recent strains in the relationship are entirely due to the policy changes and actions of the Australian government since 2022, which have been a conspicuous departure from long-held bipartisan positions. Australian Jews and I believe most Australians want to see the Australia-Israel relationship get back to where it was because it has been mutually beneficial at many levels. We can only wish the Attorney General success in his mission, but the government’s recent policy settings will make this challenging to say the least.”
Former Labor MP Michael Danby told J-Wire: “In the real world, away from the hypercriticism of Penny Wong and DFAT, Mr Netanyahu looks set for a difficult Gaza ceasefire. If the Israelis had harked to Australia’s demonstrations, Jerusalem would not have defeated Hamas and been in a position to conclude the war with Hamas
“Attorney General Mark Dreyfus) will face ferocious Israeli criticism over Wong’s insistence on continuing $82m funding of UNRWA as the organisation’s been shuttered in Gaza and the West Bank. But the worst policy shift of this Socialist Left govt is the discriminatory policy interrogation of all Israeli tourists which applies to no other country’s tourists.”
