Media Releases

“The Government’s unprecedented decision to sanction two democratically-elected but controversial ministers in the allied, democratic government of Israel represents a major escalation of the ongoing regrettable trend by the current ALP government of abandoning our long-standing bipartisan tradition of good relations with the Jewish state.

“The Government appears to be acting at the behest of the obsessive anti-Israel activists who constantly scream for ever more punitive actions against Israel, and largely do not seek the two-state solution our government says it supports, but instead desire Israel’s ultimate destruction. This ongoing trend is profoundly against Australia’s national interests abroad, as the current US condemnation highlights. Moreover, this attempt to placate the anti-Israel obsessives will only increase our own internal divisions and conflict, because the anti-Israel agitators will only feel empowered to demand ever stronger action against Israel.

“The move to sanction, rather than criticise, Israeli leaders for their rhetoric also smacks of blatant double standards. AIJAC finds many statements by Smotrich and especially Ben-Gvir insupportable and we share the Government’s concern about settler violence against West Bank Palestinians and call on Israeli authorities to do more to stop them. However, there are many leaders of the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Turkey, and Qatar who are saying things at least as inflammatory, if not more so. Yet there is no discussion of sanctioning any of them. It seems clear that it is only because of pressure from anti-Israel obsessives inside and outside of government – and not only in Australia but also in the other countries involved in this sanctions plan, such as Canada and the UK – that Israel is being treated so differently.”

Dr Colin Rubenstein, Executive Director, AIJAC