Australia / Israel Review

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton recently visited Israel to gain a stronger understanding of Hamas’ unprecedented terror attack on October 7 and the ensuing war against the terrorist group in Gaza and strengthen bilateral ties.

Along with Foreign Minister Penny Wong – who travelled to Israel in January – Dutton is the most senior Australian politician to visit Israel since the October 7 terror attacks. However, Wong did not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu or visit any of the sites of the October 7 terror attacks during her trip.

Across his three days in Israel, Dutton held meetings with top Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. 

Following these meetings, Dutton pledged to “rebuild” Australia’s relationship with Israel should the Coalition win the next election, saying, “I sent a very clear message on behalf of the Coalition that should we win the next election, we look forward to the relationship becoming stronger and making sure that we can build off the platform of previous prime ministers where the relationship has been close and has been strong and to our mutual benefit.”

He also told Sky News Australia that Israel was Australia’s closest ally in the Middle East and that the relationship had been a “force for good” for decades: “We shouldn’t neglect that. We should never forget it.”

Peter Dutton (centre left) meets Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz (centre right). Also present are AIJAC’s Dr Colin Rubenstein and Joel Burnie.

Dutton also met with Palestinian Authority Assistant Minister for Multilateral Affairs Ammar Hijazi, and with Australia’s Ambassador to Israel, Dr Ralph King.

Dutton has spoken several times since his return about the trip and the devastating scenes that he witnessed, both through visiting the communities attacked on October 7 and when viewing 47 minutes of raw footage taken from mobile phones, dash cams, bodycams, and CCTV on that day.

Following the trip, in an op-ed published in the Daily Telegraph (Aug. 1), Dutton wrote: “I’ve seen some shocking things in my life as a former police officer on the beat and as a Home Affairs Minister who handled terrorism and child exploitation cases. But this footage shakes you to the core.”

“If the anti-Israel protesters who march in the streets of democracies around the world and serve as Hamas’ useful cheer squads watched even just a few minutes of this footage, I believe many would down their hate-filled placards in horror,” he concluded.

World leaders, political staffers, journalists, activists and selected individuals have been invited to view the footage in question in closed screenings. However, the Israeli Government has made the decision not to release the footage publicly due to both its extremely graphic nature and to protect the privacy and dignity of the victims and survivors.

Dutton also asserted that Israel has “every right to defend its territory and its people,” especially from a terrorist organisation that has openly and frequently committed to repeat the devastating October 7 attacks “again and again”.

One of the most important meetings Dutton held was with family members of hostages and returned hostages. Those present included Yair Moses Finkelstein and Margalit Moses, who are the son and former wife, respectively, of Gadi Moses, 80, who remains in Hamas captivity in Gaza. Margalit Moses herself was kidnapped on October 7 from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, but was released as part of a ceasefire deal last November. Her former husband is a cancer survivor who suffers from diabetes and fibromyalgia.

Peter Dutton meeting with family members of hostages and returned hostages

Also in attendance at the meeting was Ali Alziadna, whose brother Yousef, 53, and nephew Khamza, 22, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Holit, and Alon Nimrodi, who is the father of 19-year-old Tamir Nimrodi, who had joined the IDF less than a year before and was kidnapped from a military base.

Dutton visited two sites central to the October 7 terror attacks – Kibbutz Be’eri and the Nova music festival site. Ninety-six civilians and 31 IDF personnel were brutally murdered at Kibbutz Be’eri and another 26 residents were taken hostage. At the Nova Music Festival site, located in the Re’im forest about five kilometres from the Gaza border, 364 people were murdered and 40 people were kidnapped. 

Following a sobering visit to Yad Vashem – Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, in Jerusalem – Dutton laid a wreath dedicated to the six million victims and stated: “Thank you to Yad Vashem for its dedication and devotion to remembering those who have fallen at the hands of evil.”

In his op-ed, Dutton stated that the “world must never forget what happened” to the thousands of victims who were murdered or injured on October 7, and noted the emotional scars that have been left behind.

“On October 7, the monsters of Hamas acted with glee as they tormented their victims. My trip to Israel has not only reinforced the importance of standing with our ally in its darkest hours. It has also reinforced the duty that democratic citizens have in turning the tide of anti-Semitism – wherever we find it and whatever form it takes.”