Australian sanctions against Israel ‘sends a signal’

A decision by Australia and several allies to sanction two Israeli ministers is being hailed as a consequential step in the push for a two-state solution.

The sanctioning of two Israeli ministers signals Australia will be more assertive in pushing for a two-state solution in the Middle East, an expert says.

The federal government applied sanctions against Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a co-ordinated move with allies Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.

The sanctions were applied for “extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”, with the pair barred from travelling to Australia and any assets in the country being frozen.

The measures prompted condemnation from the US, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying it would do little to achieve a ceasefire in the conflict.

But Middle East politics professor at Deakin University Shahram Akbarzadeh said the sanctions were a consequential step.

“It is significant and it sends a signal that Australia is becoming more resolute in pursuing its foreign policy agenda of a two-state solution,” he told AAP.

“Australia would not have done this on its own, but when Australia sees other allied countries taking this move, that allows Australia to feel comfortable in numbers.”

Israel’s Ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, stated that the sanctions were concerning and unacceptable.

“These ministers are part of a government that operates under the principle of collective responsibility, making such measures unreasonable,” he said in a statement.

“The Israeli government will convene early next week to consider and determine our official response to these actions.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says the government has overstepped its bounds.

“It is unprecedented to, as a government, take actions, sanctions on members of a democratically elected government,” she told Sky News on Thursday.

“The US has explained that these actions are actually counterproductive to securing that ceasefire and that peace, and the government should be paying attention to that.”

Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, says the style of sanctions imposed by the government was normally reserved for human rights abusers and terrorists.

“The big question here is whether this is a new standard that will be applied to the public comments of officials from other countries,” he told ABC Radio.

“If this is the new standard, it will have serious implications for our international relations.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese doubled down on the need for the sanctions, despite the reaction from Israel and the US.

“Sometimes friends have to be clear with each other,” he told reporters in Sydney.

“We support Israel’s right to live and to exist in secure borders, but we also support the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians.”

Israel’s violence in Gaza restarted after Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation, invaded the nation and killed about 1200 people and abducted 250 others on October 7, 2023.

Australia in July also sanctioned Israelis involved in attacking and killing Palestinians in the West Bank.

Dr Colin Rubenstein, executive director of The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, stated: “The Government’s unprecedented decision to sanction two democratically-elected but controversial ministers in the allied, democratic government of Israel represents a major escalation of the ongoing regrettable trend by the current ALP government of abandoning our long-standing bipartisan tradition of good relations with the Jewish state.

The Government appears to be acting at the behest of the obsessive anti-Israel activists who constantly scream for ever more punitive actions against Israel, and largely do not seek the two-state solution our government says it supports, but instead desire Israel’s ultimate destruction.”

AAP with J-Wire