EDITORIAL: Australia’s Israel backflip may come at a grave cost

At a time when the Federal Labor Government would be well advised to start building some bridges with our closest international allies, Anthony Albanese seems hell-bent on instead burning them down.

The decision to support a UN resolution backing a Palestinian state and demanding Israel withdraw from Occupied Territories, not only walks back 20 years of support of the Middle East’s only democracy but further risks raising the ire of the incoming US president.

It’s bad enough that the Government has failed to rein in our Ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd over ill-conceived 2020 social media posts calling Donald Trump “the most destructive president in history”.

Or that Mr Albanese was lambasted by Trump whisperer, owner of X and the world’s richest man Elon Musk over his planned social media ban for under 16s, calling it a “backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians”.

Now, we have chosen to turn our back not only on Israel, but also the US, our key ally, and support an “irreversible pathway” to a Palestinian state.

The withdrawal of support for Israel in its seemingly endless battle for survival, also marks our official abandonment of the war against radical Islamist regimes, and their terrorist offshoots, both at home and abroad.

The results of which could prove disastrous for Australia’s long-term security and best interests especially given the nation’s future defence rests heavily on President-elect Trump backing the AUKUS submarine deal.

Trump has made it clear he will take a zero-tolerance stance on Hamas by issuing a grave warning that there will be “all hell to pay” if the terrorist organisation does not release Israeli hostages being held in Gaza ahead of his return to office.

“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media site.

The Albanese Government’s decision will also come as blow to Australia’s Jewish community who already feel under siege by the wave of anti-semitism that has flooded the nation.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was quick to criticise the Government and was not mincing his words when he said Labor had “sold out the Jewish community” by reversing a position Australia has held since 2001.

“They’ve completely abandoned the Jewish community, the State of Israel,” Mr Dutton said.

He added that the Prime Minister “stands condemned” after he assured the Australian Jewish community before the last election that there was no difference between the positions of the major parties.

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham issued a statement claiming the backflip was the latest “broken promise” from the Government.

The clearly divergent positions on Israel further deepens the policy divide between the two major parties as we head into next year’s Federal election.

And it could well see Mr Albanese washed out to sea without a submarine to save him.