Daily Times

Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent Australia visit was widely commented here, with the media highlighting its special significance as the first ever by an Israeli prime minister. Australia, in other words, now has a special kinship with Israel, more so with Netanyahu as its prime minister. Australia has always been supportive of Israel, following the US lead in the matter. But something radical happened when the outgoing Obama administration decided to abstain on a recent UN Security Council resolution calling on Israel to halt its illegitimate settlement of Palestinian territory. Till then, Israel had always counted on the US to veto all resolutions critical of Israel. Also, with the US abstaining, the resolution was adopted making Israel an international pariah.

It does not mean much though as Israel has been used to flouting international opinion on this matter. And with the new President Donald Trump welcoming Netanyahu and giving him, more or less, carte blanche to do his own stuff concerning Palestine, Netanyahu couldn’t have been happier. It was sweet revenge on Obama who was hated for promoting a two-state solution and urging a halt to settlement activity in the interim.Even though Obama was a great friend of Israel with an open-ended commitment to its security testified by the fact that Israel would receive the largest military aid package under the Obama administration over ten years.

The Obama administration’s promotion of negotiations for a two-state solution was genuinely considered necessary for Israel’s enduring security and regional stability and peace. But Netanyahu and his right-wing cabal were not interested. They point out that a sovereign Palestinian state will end up being a terrorist outfit working to destroy Israel and a threat even to other Arab states from regional terrorism. In other words, by standing firm against a sovereign Palestinian state, Israel is not only working to ensure its own security but also helping to stabilise and secure the region.

When Netanyahu arrived on a state visit to Australia, he was received with great fanfare notwithstanding the international censure over its settlement activities in Palestine, like the Security Council resolution on the subject. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was gushing in his welcome describing Israel as a “truly miraculous nation”, with its “most ancient history” but still at the cutting edge of technology. And he emphasised that: “We have so much in common: shared values, democracy, freedom, the rule of law, two great democracies, one small in size one vast.” Really!

In contrast with Prime Minister Turnbull’s welcome, some leaders of the opposition Labour Party – mainly two former prime ministers and two foreign ministers – advocated that Australia should follow the example of 130 other countries that now recognise Palestinian statehood. But like it has done with the rest of the world, the Israeli government is simply not interested in listening to anyone.

Why would Netanyahu pay any attention to Labour Party luminaries of a bygone era, when the country’s ruling conservative coalition was fawning over Netanyahu and largely supportive of his position. Indeed, prime minister Turnbull went so far as to pen an article in a national newspaper here taking aim at those who “insisted that the government take the side of those in the international community who seek to chastise– and it alone – for the continuing failure of the peace process.”

He said emphatically that Australia would have voted against the Security Council resolution, which recently passed through the Council with one abstention by the then Obama administration.

No wonder then that Netanyahu said that, “There is no better friend [than Australia] for the state of Israel.” Even though Canberra continues to formally support a two-state solution “so that Palestinians will have their own state and the people of Israel can be secure within agreed borders”, the Palestinian entity envisaged by Israel is some sort of a local council under Israeli control and direction.

This is what Netanyahu has in mind. He was quoted as saying, “We have to make sure that Palestinians recognise a Jewish state [and by definition disenfranchise themselves] and we have to ensure that Israel has the overriding security control of the territories.” He added, “Other than that; I want the Palestinians to govern themselves…” with whatever will be left to govern. In other words, an ‘autonomous’ Palestinian entity under Israeli control and direction, if it were ever forced on the Palestinians, will ‘legitimise’ apartheid, probably, worse than the one once practised in South Africa.

If Israel were ever interested in a negotiated settlement that would meet most of its requirements, the one reportedly worked out by the former US secretary of state, John Kerry, seemed promising. It would have involved Arab countries recognising Israel with Tel Aviv undertaking to withdraw from much of the occupied Palestinian land. In other words, with Arab countries recognisingIsrael, it would meet the most substantive of its demand for security in a region that it considers hostile. But this is not the real problem. Israel simply doesn’t want to relinquish its territorial grab, and the rest is all a red herring.

Since Israel will not relinquish occupied Palestinian land, and countries like Australia are prepared to make excuses for Israel, will that create lasting peace? Very unlikely indeed! It will simply continue to make things worse.

But that is not what Netanyahu’s Australia visit was all about. He wanted to thank Australia that in the midst of so much international censure of its illegal settlement activities, Canberra was understanding and appreciative of Israel’s position and roll out a red carpet for Netanyahu during his 4-day state visit.

The writer is a senior journalist and academic based in Sydney, Australia. He can be reached at sushilpseth@yahoo.co.au