A watershed year for Australia and Israel

Israel’s far-right government has prompted major changes both within the Australian Jewish community and at a public policy level.

A year ago, an article about Australia and Israel would have begun by observing that Australia’s Jewish community is passionately supportive of Israel, whatever the flavour of its government, and that successive Australian governments have had a bipartisan balanced policy broadly supportive of Israel.

Neither of these statements is now true. While Australian Jews remain deeply committed Zionists and Australia remains a fundamental supporter of Israel’s right to statehood, peace and security, there are many more shades of grey in both relationships.

Australians’ relationship with Israel must now be seen through the prism of Israel’s most extremist government ever: a coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud but deeply influenced by the Jewish Supremacists Otzma Yehudit, the religious nationalists Religious Zionism, the two Haredi parties United Torah Judaism and Shas, and the deeply conservative “religious values” party Noam.

Both the broader Australian public and the vast majority of Australian Jews are uncomfortable with the extremism of this government, its anti-democratic reform agenda, the racist statements coming from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and its drive to  increase settlements in the West Bank.

They are also appalled by the social effects which have resulted from the cultural permission of extremism including the deep divides in Israeli society resulting from massive protests,  unprecedented settler violence towards Palestinians and the lawlessness resulting in a spate of murders in Israeli Arab towns.