December 6, 2012
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4373
In the diplomatic debacle at the
United Nations General Assembly pertaining to the vote of recognition
to the Palestinian Authority, two countries considered solid supporters
of Israel, abandoned us at the crucial moment.
Israel was shocked when Germany
abstained, especially as Chancellor Angela Merkel had stated earlier
that Germany would vote against the Palestinian initiative.
The other unexpected defection
was the last moment abstention of Australian Prime Minister Julia
Gillard’s Labor government, considered a strong supporter of Israel.
On a few recent occasions, votes
by Australia at the UN appeared to deviate from the norm, but this was
rationalized as temporary pandering to the Arabs to solicit votes for
elections to the Security Council.
The dramatic tilt against Israel
was spearheaded by Foreign Minister Bob Carr who exerted enormous
pressure on the Labor caucus and compelled Prime Minister Gillard to
backtrack from her decision to oppose the Palestinian initiative. Had
she not complied, she would have been humiliatingly defeated and
possibly toppled as Prime Minister.
Carr was vigorously supported by
former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke, at one time one of Israel’s
greatest supporters, notorious (whilst inebriated) for having called on
Israel to “nuke” the Palestinians if they failed to halt the terror.
Hawke was intimately connected to Israel’s Labor leaders but after
Menahem Begin was elected Prime Minister in 1977, he changed his views
and today regards Israel as “intransigent”. He was supported by another
veteran Labor politician, former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, who
since retiring from government has been consistently canvassing the Arab
cause. Both fervently lobbied Labor ministers to repudiate Gillard’s
policy.
Carr was only appointed to his
post in March this year. Prior to that he had served for 11 years as
Premier of Australia’s largest state, New South Wales.
Ironically, he was once
considered a close friend of the Jewish community. He is knowledgeable
about Jewish affairs and has a genuine and sensitive understanding of
the Holocaust. In 1977, he was a founding member of the Labor Friends of
Israel.
He subsequently became a
passionate admirer of Amos Oz and appears to have absorbed much of his
far left outlook on Israeli affairs.
In 2003, as State Premier, he
dismayed the Jewish community and friends of Israel by presenting the
Sydney Peace Prize to Palestinian political activist, Hanan Ashrawi,
renowned for her rabid demonization of Israel.
Carr visited Israel in August this year meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders including Ashrawi.
On his return to Australia, he
raised eyebrows when he dispatched a delegation to Iran to solicit votes
for Australia’s UN Security Council candidature. There were also
unconfirmed rumors circulating that undertakings were made to the Arabs
in return for their support.
His backing of Israel during the
Gaza campaign was lukewarm. In the Senate, he made the astonishing
statement: “Any response by Israel needs to be proportionate and not
lead to civilian casualties. We have on more than a dozen occasions
called on both sides to exercise restraint”.
Setting aside the moral
equivalence inherent in this remark, he was effectively demanding that
Israel - which more than any army in history goes out of its way to
minimize civilian casualties - take no action to defend its citizens
from missile attacks.
He was even more forthcoming
after the UN vote when he proclaimed “I don’t apologize for the fact
that Australia has interests in the Arab world. If we had voted no, that
would have been a body blow to our interests in over 20 countries. The
truth is they all see this as a bedrock issue.” He also dismissed
suggestions that the Palestinians intended to exploit their new observer
status to initiate charges of war crimes against Israel at the
International Criminal Court.
Carr’s change of policy was
confirmed when he joined the European bandwagon and hauled Israel’s
Ambassador to Australia, Yuval Rotem over the coals following Israel’s
decision to build homes in the Jerusalem suburbs and adjacent areas -
which the Bush Administration had agreed should remain within Israel.
Australia has a long association
of friendship with Israel dating back to Australian troops who served
in Palestine during both World Wars. Labor leader Dr. H.V. Evatt was UN
President in 1948 when the Jewish state was proclaimed and since then
until today - with the exception of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam from
1972-1975, - successive Australian governments of all political
persuasions, displayed strong friendship towards Israel.
The Liberal (conservative)
government under Prime Minister John Howard, which governed Australia
for 11 years prior to Labor’s electoral victory in 2007, was especially
supportive of Israel and could be compared to the Harper Government in
Canada today.
When Howard visited Israel in
2000, I had already made aliya and reluctantly accepted his invitation
to accompany his delegation to meet with Arafat. Afterwards he solicited
my opinion and I told him that I regarded Arafat as a duplicitous
terrorist and did not believe he had any intention of seeking a peace
settlement. I recall his response: “Should Arafat ever renege on the
commitments to peace which he conveyed today, I give you a clear
undertaking that as long as I am Prime Minister, the Jewish community
and the people of Israel will never have reason to feel that I let them
down”. Howard kept his word and in subsequent years emerged as Israel’s
greatest champion amongst world statesmen.
Labor, headed by Kevin Rudd,
gained office in 2007 and three years later was succeeded by Julia
Gillard. Under both Prime Ministers, but especially Gillard, Labor
maintained an evenhanded bipartisan approach towards Israel.
Much of this historical
bipartisanship can be attributed to a vigorous Jewish community,
renowned as being one of the most vibrant Zionist communities in the
Diaspora. Its leadership has never failed, to speak upand take a
principled stand on behalf of Israel when appropriate.
With close to 500,000 Moslems
now living in Australia, many concentrated in key Labor Party
electorates, their influence has impacted on a number of Labor
Ministers. Combined with the vehement anti-Israeli orientation of the
far left Labor factions, this enabled Carr to persuade the Cabinet to
tilt its policy against Israel.
However it is premature to
totally write off the Australian Labor Party. It has a long tradition of
friendship towards Israel and many of its leaders were distressed with
recent developments. Besides, although understandably disheartened,
Prime Minister Julia Gillard remains solidly pro-Israel, reiterating her
view that this abstention was a mistake and will only serve to embolden
Palestinian extremists.
The opposition Liberal Party
adamantly supports Israel. Former Prime Minister John Howard described
the government’s tilt as “pathetic” and an “embarrassment”.
Elections are scheduled next year and recent polls indicate that the Liberals may win by a landslide.
But unless Gillard succeeds in
persuading the Labor Party caucus to change its approach, in the short
term Israel should not expect support from Australia under Foreign
Minister Carr. Like many of our European “friends”, Carr may continue
insisting that his motivations are based upon having the Jewish state’s
security at heart and trying to save Israel from itself. But when the
chips are down, he will abandon us as he did at the UN General Assembly.
The writer’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com.He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com
This column was originally published in the Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom
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