(2025): Israelis Right to Fear a Hostile Palestinian State
A lot is being asked of Israelis, the Jewish diaspora, and friends right now.
Why Palestinian Recognition is Both Inevitable and Fraught
Australian public opinion in favour of recognition of a state of Palestine is clear. Continuing opposition could merely hasten a form of recognition that would be tantamount to an empty gesture. What is now required is for those genuinely seeking a two-state solution, that enables Palestinians and Israelis to live side-by-side in peace, is to provide a robust, realist edge to what Foreign Minister Wong calls the “matter of when, not if” decision.
(2025) Envoy’s Definition Won’t Conflate Antisemitism with Criticising Israel
The IHRA definition does no more than recognise that anti-Zionism may or may not be antisemitic in its motivation or effects. It nearly always depends on how points are made, content and context.
2025: Is Australia Ready for the Ceasefire?
With a Gaza ceasefire imminent, Australia could play a role in constructively aiding the peace process. Despite recent controversies at home, Australia is still among Israel’s strongest supporters east of Jerusalem. Only the Pacific atoll nations are more supportive.
(2024) Enough is Enough
Speech on Sunday 15 December 2024 to the ‘Together with Israel’ rally in Martin Place, Sydney.
(2024): A Balanced Labor View on Peace in the Middle East
Speech given at the NSW ALP Conference on 27 July 2024 on an amendment to the ‘Australia and the World’ report. Delegates. First principles. Any person ever born matters. Every life lost is a tragedy, a loss of a personal universe. Those principles certainly matter in the Middle East. For many of us, the resolution…
(2024): Shlomo Avineri (1933-2023): Labour Intellectual in the Land of Israel
Shlomo Avineri who died on 1 December 2023 was one of Israel’s most outstanding public intellectuals.
(2024) What Wong Can Bring to the Middle East
Diplomacy involves listening, learning, empathy, and articulating the national interest, underpinned by core values.
(2023) Israel and Palestine Justice
Delegates, good people can agree on the spirit of a resolution –like the one before us – even if they disagree on some details. There can be no peace without justice, but equally there can be no justice without truth. The central and tragic truth of the Israel-Palestinian conflict is that two peoples, the Jewish…
(2023) What is Going on in Israel Today?
Israel is in the midst of unprecedented political turmoil. Three alarms are sounding.