What Albanese must do following his move on Palestinian statehood

Widespread sympathy for Israel’s pursuit of Hamas following the terror group’s unforgivable attack on October 7, 2023, started to rapidly erode once the apocalyptic spectre of famine rode into Gaza. The seismic shift in sentiment over recent months and actions by other international governments over recent days made it inevitable that the Albanese government would recognise a Palestinian state.

With some 60,000 Palestinians killed and more than 150,000 wounded, the growing sense of disproportionate horror prompted some of our closest allies including Britain, France and Canada to opt for recognition, while many hoped for an Israeli change of heart.

Instead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down and called for one final military drive to destroy Hamas. He also dismissed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s promise to recognise Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly next month, labelling it shameful.

Given the intransigence of both Netanyahu and Hamas and their failure to halt the killing, recognition could certainly be a first meaningful step toward peace, but one highly dependent on the goodwill of both protagonists.

Relying on assurances from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Albanese put no conditions on Australia’s recognition. Rather, he signalled the authority must guarantee there was no role for Hamas in a Palestinian government, plus ensure the demilitarisation of Gaza, the holding of elections and commitment to peaceful co-existence with Israel. But history has shown the authority has been incapable of these goals in the past, and it’s hard not to be sceptical about any promises to exclude Hamas from the decision-making process.

As the Herald’s national security and defence correspondent Matthew Knott reports, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, a supporter of a two-state solution and fierce critic of successor Netanyahu, has dismissed Australia’s move as a populist act of symbolism that will not advance a two-state solution.

He said the Albanese government should have waited until key conditions, such as Palestinian elections, were met first, rather than accepting assurances from Abbas, a position the Herald supported.

Olmert also predicted Netanyahu would lose the next elections, due by October next year. “The right people will take over again, and Israel will return to be what it was for many years,” he said.

The world cannot endure 14 more months of slaughter and starvation in the hope that Olmert’s forecast comes true.

Now Albanese has made his decision on Palestinian statehood, he must follow up with a commitment to ensuring this troubled people commit to democracy, abandon terrorism and recognise Israel as their democratic neighbour.

The Herald also believes Israel should turn from its current path, commit to a ceasefire and take immediate steps to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Henry Kissinger’s 1976 dictum, “Israel has no foreign policy, only domestic politics”, still rings true. But that bell has a crack and the time has passed that allowed Israel to act globally by acting locally with temerity. Hamas triggered the fighting on October 7, with an attack that killed about 1200 people and resulted in 250 hostages being snatched. But Netanyahu’s current strategy will cost the lives of more Palestinians and Israeli soldiers, while also endangering the 20 hostages believed to still be alive.

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