What Albanese must do following his move on Palestinian statehood
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.
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