Benjamin Netanyahu’s jab at Australia came at critical moment, but will do little to help his cause
“Today, most of the Jewish public is against the Palestinian state for the simple reason that they know it won’t bring peace, it will bring war,” he said.
“To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole, just like that – fall right into it – and buy this canard, is disappointing. And I think it’s actually shameful,” he said.
Benjamin Netanyahu took aim at Australia and European nations for their pursuit of a two-state solution.Credit: AP
“But it’s not going to take, it’s not going to change our position. We will not commit national suicide to get a good op-ed for two minutes. We won’t do that.”
His words are like rotten tomatoes for the Liberals and Nationals to throw at Albanese.
Unanswered questions
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There are serious arguments against recognising a Palestinian state at this point. What would this state look like? The borders are contested and overrun by war. The leadership is unknown. The dominant fighting force in a large part of the territory, Hamas, is a terrorist group.
The key condition for the existence of this state, at least in Western diplomacy, is that it accepts Israel’s right to exist and does not threaten Israel’s security. This means European leaders are choosing to recognise Palestine before they can be sure it meets this condition.
The assumption is that Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, could lead a Palestinian state. Several have spoken to him in recent days – including Albanese last Wednesday.
The obvious challenge is that Abbas has authority over the West Bank, as chairman of Fatah, the largest group within the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, but he cannot speak for others. Hamas won 44.45 per cent of the vote in the 2006 election that led it to take control of Gaza. And it is dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
Peaceful coexistence may seem a bitter joke to the people of Gaza after more than 60,000 deaths in less than two years. Witnesses to the war have told this masthead about the indiscriminate casualties, the starvation, the flattening of homes and the restrictions on medical aid.
Tents housing displaced Palestinians crowd the beach in Gaza City on Sunday.Credit: AP
Nations such as Britain, France and Canada have avoided recognising a Palestinian state in the past, but the war is so horrific that this symbolic recognition is presented as urgent and necessary. They use it to apply pressure on Netanyahu over the sheer scale of the suffering. As a road map to peace, however, it is only a sketch.
Netanyahu has been losing support among Western leaders for months because of the ferocity of his military strategy. Some chose not to take a firm stand against him in the earlier stages of the war, but this changed as the full horror grew worse, month after month.
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After losing so many national leaders, Netanyahu needed to keep some on side. His remarks on Sunday will only push Albanese further away.
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