Australia calls for two-solution to end Gaza violence

Recognising Palestinian statehood could be the only way to end the cycle of violence in the Middle East and build momentum toward a two-state solution, Foreign Minister Penny Wong says.

Senator Wong advanced the prospect on Tuesday, signalling a hardening of Australia’s stance on the conflict in the region where Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza has left up to a million people facing starvation.

In a speech at the Australian National University, the minister said a secure and prosperous future for both Israel and Palestinians could only come with a two-state solution.

“Recognising a Palestinian state – one that can only exist side by side with a secure Israel – doesn’t just offer the Palestinian people an opportunity to realise their aspirations,” she told a National Security College conference.

“It also strengthens the forces for peace and undermines extremism.

“It undermines Hamas, Iran and Iran’s other destructive proxies in the region.

“This is why we are urging all parties to return to the table, and why we are engaging to support all efforts to advance a political process, including discussions between regional leaders.”

Her comments come after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese indicated federal Labor’s support for a two-state solution.

While Senator Wong said no decision had been made about officially recognising Palestine, it was important to look at international discussion about how to secure peace in the Middle East.

“Obviously, we have the immediate conflict, we need to see Hamas release hostages, we need to see a revitalised Palestinian Authority, we need to see an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” she told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

“Ultimately, peace and security for Israel will only be achieved if we have a Palestinian state alongside the Israeli state.”

Opposition foreign spokesman Simon Birmingham said calls to recognise Palestine “put statehood before security”.

“The reality, however, is that a two-state solution will only be possible with security, and confidence that the right of each party to exist will be respected by the other,” Senator Birmingham said in a statement.

“Hamas’s attacks of 7 October, deliberately slaughtering more Jews than on any single day since The Holocaust, shattered any sense of security.

“It is downright dangerous to reward such barbaric conduct with a fast track to recognition of statehood.”

Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said Senator Wong’s speech was more focused on domestic politics, rather than foreign policy.

“It breaks from the long-held bipartisan position, because it potentially incentivises and rewards Hamas,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“The Albanese government needs to listen to the concerns of Jewish people.”

Executive Council of Australia Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin called Senator Wong’s comments disappointing.

“They are no doubt well intentioned and the foreign ministers wants an end to the conflict as we all do but when Israel is in the fight of its life against Hamas … to lecture an ally seems callous and inappropriate,” he told ABC TV.

But Senator Wong said efforts to recognise Palestinian statehood would have benefits for Israel.

” I don’t see, ultimately, any security for Israel without the issue of Palestinian statehood being resolved,” she said.

“There is no peace in the long term unless this issue is resolved.”

The conflict in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ cross-border attack in southern Israel on October 7, that left 1200 people dead and more than 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in six months of conflict, Gaza’s health ministry says.

Most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are homeless and many are at risk of famine.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said Australia wanted to see an end to a conflict that had continued far too long.

“The concept of Palestinian statehood is something that’s been widely talked about in discussion amongst national security professionals all over the world,” she told Seven’s Sunrise.

Opposition spokeswoman Jane Hume said Senator Wong’s remarks were a “significant shift” away from Australia’s bipartisan position on Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, reacted to Penny Wong’s remarks by saying: “Any talk of recognition of Palestinian statehood in such close proximity to the 7 October attacks is entirely premature and will be seen as a reward for those attacks.

Israel is currently at war with a genocidal terrorist organisation, which perpetrated horrors on the Jewish people not seen since the Holocaust. That followed decades of indoctrination of Palestinians in textbooks and in media, glorifying violence and rejecting any Jewish claims to any part of the land, which completely undermined the chance for peaceful Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Before any talk of statehood is credible, Hamas must be removed and a new generation of Palestinian leadership must emerge, which isn’t corrupt, don’t condone violence and recognises Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State.”

The president of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Daniel Aghion, stated: “The Foreign Minister’s speech is not the way to treat a friend and ally of Australia, such as Israel.

All reasonable people want to end the cycle of violence and see Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace. However, our Government must be clear-eyed about why peace has remained elusive all these years and the steps necessary to finally achieving it.

Israel has unilaterally withdrawn from the territory and advanced proposals for two-state solutions since 1937. All of Israel’s offers have been rejected. Israel is not the obstacle to peace.

The state of war exists because of the Iranian-backed jihadists that rule the Palestinians in Gaza and the ineptitude, corruption and generational glorification of violence in the West Bank.

The reason the current Israeli government is less than enthusiastic about a two-state solution is because they have never believed the Palestinians are serious about living in peace and coexistence. October 7 proved they were right.”

Zionism Victoria urges Foreign Minister Penny Wong to rule out any recognition of Palestinian statehood outside of a negotiated peace agreement with Israel, insisting that to talk of recognition at the current time was not only premature but provided ‘aid and comfort’ to Hamas, who would ultimately see this as a reward for their October 7 atrocities.

Noting that recognition was not on the agenda prior to the October 7 attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead and 250 in captivity in Gaza, Zionism Victoria president Yossi Goldfarb said, “How can this be seen as anything other than a reward for terror, and encouragement to pursue goals through terrorism rather than democracy, dialogue or diplomacy?”

Goldfarb added that Zionism Victoria was committed to a two-state solution, a position accepted by all mainstream Jewish organisations in Australia. But he said that could only come about with Palestinian leadership who are committed to an enduring peace with Israel that is reached through a negotiated settlement. “Hamas are not those leaders” he added.

“Talk of recognition now offers Hamas a victory that is built on the graves of the October 7 victims and the despair of the families whose loved ones languish in the terror tunnels of Gaza.”

In a series of tweets, Labor Federal MP Josh Burns posted: “Israelis and Palestinians both deserve to live in security, dignity and freedom. Once this war ends, we must do all we can to ensure that this cycle of violence cannot continue.

I have always supported a two-state solution to one day bring an end to this cycle. However, one thing is overwhelmingly clear, Hamas cannot play a role in the future governance of Gaza and the Palestinian people.

Hamas has shown not only do they not recognise the existence of the State of Israel but they don’t represent the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people who have suffered as a result of the October 7th attacks.

Dr Colin Rubenstein is the executive director of The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council. He stated: “We profoundly disagree with Senator Wong’s implications in her speech that recognition of Palestinian statehood in the near future could be a ‘way of building momentum towards a two-state solution’ and would also not be a reward for the terrorist massacre of Hamas on October 7. Despite Senator Wong’s words about Hamas having no future role in Gaza, there is no doubt that many Palestinians would see any such recognition in the near future as a major national achievement made possible by Hamas’ wave of barbaric mass violence. In addition, talking about such recognition now is also a huge disincentive for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to undertake the root and branch reforms Senator Wong acknowledges it needs before it could also take over Gaza’s governance, or become the nucleus of a Palestinian state.

The preconditions for a two-state peace are not currently in place, and extending such recognition before they are only makes it less likely these preconditions can ever be developed.”

AJA CEO Robert Gregory said: “It is morally corrupt to react to the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust by rewarding the murderers who carried out the atrocity.

We are extremely concerned that Labor is endangering the lives of Jewish people in Israel, Australia, and across the world. Islamic terrorists and other extremists around the world will rejoice and be further emboldened that terrorism brings rewards.”

AAP/J-Wire