Media Releases

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) calls on the Australian Government to join international efforts to take strong and coordinated action against Iran in the wake of the massive missile and drone attack on Israel its forces launched in the early morning hours of April 14.

Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein said: “The implications of this unprecedented multi-fronted attack on Israel from Iran and its proxies based in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, which involved hundreds of drones followed by waves of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and rockets, cannot be ignored.

“Since seizing power in 1979, the Islamist regime has vowed to destroy Israel. To this end, it has spent countless billions on funding proxy terror militias arming them to the teeth with practically every weapon imaginable.

“The ballistic missiles that Iran launched from their own territory against Israel in this attack were armed with conventional warheads on this occasion, but their development goes hand in hand with their nuclear program.

“While the US, UK, Jordan and Saudi Arabia deserve gratitude for standing up against Iranian aggression and working together with Israel to knock the missiles and drones out of the sky, the Iranian attack should be a wake-up call to Australia and the world to take Iran’s threats more seriously, and its looming nuclear threat especially so.

“When Iran threatens to destroy Israel, we must believe it. Only by unequivocally supporting Israel’s right to defend itself in its multi-front war against Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Iraqi Shia militias can we send Teheran the message that will prevent the war escalating into an uncontrolled regional conflagration.

“Meanwhile, the prospect of an Iran projecting its power under a nuclear umbrella is a nightmare scenario the entire world cannot afford.”

Dr Rubenstein also welcomed the Australian Federal Government’s condemnation of Iran and its reckless attacks on Israel, but said more needs to be done.

“Given that Australia supports regional security, including Israel’s, it would be timely to forcefully condemn Iran’s pivotal support for its terrorist proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis and its quest for regional domination, as well as unequivocally conveying our support for Israel’s right of self-defence.

“Similarly, this current outrageous attack warrants our Government announcing its intention to call in the Iranian Ambassador to issue him with a demarche.

“Indeed, given it also condemns Iran’s flouting of international law and egregious human rights abuses, our Government should at last implement the recommendations of the Senate’s bipartisan report calling for the banning of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – which launched the attacks – as a terrorist organisation,” he added.