John Howard lashed the Prime Minister’s Palestinian call.Credit: Eddie Jim
“Statehood in international law is not a prize handed out to reward sympathy or to satisfy political sentiment,” they wrote.
Howard and Downer, the nation’s longest serving foreign minister, argued that Palestine does not meet the internationally recognised criteria for statehood: a defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government, and the capacity to engage in relations with other states.
“Recognition of Palestine under these circumstances is not a legal act but a political gesture,” they wrote.
“Worse, it is a gesture that directly undermines the very frameworks designed to resolve the Israeli– Palestinian conflict.”
They argued that a two-state solution “cannot be imposed from abroad” but “must be built painstakingly by the parties themselves, through negotiation, compromise, and responsibility”.
The world’s biggest academic association of genocide scholars passed a resolution this week saying the legal criteria have been met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a charge dismissed by Israel as disgraceful and “entirely based on Hamas’ campaign of lies”.
Husic said that, given Netanyahu’s stated plan to seize control of the entire Gaza Strip: “We should be sending a clear message: please don’t join. Some dual nationals have already left Australia to join the IDF, prompting concerns in civil society.”
It is unclear how many Australians are serving in the IDF, but several publicly said they would travel from Australia to Israel to serve after the October 7 Hamas attacks that killed an estimated 1200 people in Israel in 2023.
Israeli-Australian Lior Sivan died in December 2023 while serving as a tank commander in Gaza.
Loading
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said that Australia’s foreign fighter legislation – which bans Australians from entering war zones with the intention of engaging in combat – does not apply to dual citizens who fight in the military of another country.
Husic noted the view of Australian National University professor Don Rothwell that it is “most unlikely” that Australians would be “held responsible individually for genocide” for serving in the IDF given genocide is considered a high-level political crime.
He countered that the Australian Centre for International Justice has warned that Australians serving in Gaza could face “a number of modes of liability, including as direct perpetrators, as well as aiding and abetting through the provision of logistical, material or operational support”.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
