KEY POINTS
- Penny Wong is set to meet with Israeli officials in early 2024.
- The visit to Israel will form part of a trip to the Middle East.
- It comes after the Opposition criticised Labor's decision to send a junior minister, who will visit next week.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong will meet with Israeli officials next year, soon after a visit by a junior minister that has drawn criticism from the Opposition.
A Labor frontbencher says the world is starting to ask what the "endgame" for the Israeli government is in Gaza, and warns those expressing concern for Palestinians face "our generation of McCarthyism".
The term McCarthyism is named for the aggressively anti-communist former US senator Joseph McCarthy.
SBS News can confirm Wong's meeting with Israeli officials will happen in early 2024 during her trip to the Middle East, where she will stop in several countries that wield influence over the .
The trip will come soon after assistant foreign minister Tim Watts travels to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories next week.
The Opposition on Thursday criticised the decision to make Watts, a low-ranking minister who is not in cabinet, the first Australian government representative to visit Israel since 7 October, saying it "reflects poorly" Labor's approach to a key friend.
"Arrangements are being made for the foreign minister to visit the Middle East early in the new year," a spokesperson for Wong said .
"Australia has been working with countries that have influence in the region to help protect and support civilians, to help prevent the conflict from spreading and to reinforce the need for the just and enduring peace that all of us want."
Simon Birmingham, who will travel to Israel next week as part of an Australian delegation, has criticised Labor's decision to send junior minister Tim Watts on the trip. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
Husic warns of 'our generation of McCarthyism'
Watts' visit was confirmed just hours after Coalition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham revealed he will lead a cross-parliamentary group travelling to Israel next week. The group will also include Labor backbencher Josh Burns, along with a host of MPs from both major parties.
Gaza's health ministry says more than 17,000 Palestinians have been killed and 46,000 wounded by Israeli bombardments since 7 October, when Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack, with about 240 people taken hostage, according to Israel's tally.
Minister for Science and Industry Ed Husic warns people expressing support for Palestinians face "McCarthyism". Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
Husic told SBS News that those in the delegation meeting the Palestinian Authority needed to stress the need for all hostages to be released, describing Hamas’ role in the conflict as "despicable".
"We need to move as quickly as we can towards a ceasefire … I think, increasingly, the world is starting to ask: What's the endgame here for the Israeli government?" he said on Friday.
"Too many people have lost their lives in this case … The level of violence, and injury, and death is unacceptable."
In November, some Australian media outlets banned journalists from covering the conflict if they signed a letter calling for coverage of “integrity, transparency and rigour” - saying Israel had apparently targeted journalists in Gaza.
Husic said Australians in multiple industries had "professionally paid a price" for expressing concern over the situation in Gaza.
"Why is it that people who are calling for humanity to be respected ... [that] this is in some way wrong or crossing a line?" he said.
"I'm very concerned about this tendency we are seeing right now, where if you express a view on Palestine [people say] in some way you're affected by that.
"This is our generation of McCarthyism which we saw back in the 50s, where people were targeted believing that they were communist … I don't think we need to replay that in this day and age."
'Reflects poorly': Coalition criticises decision to send junior minister first
An Opposition spokesperson later insisted Labor had acted "belatedly" to send Watts and only after Birmingham's trip was confirmed.
They argued sending a low-ranking minister before Wong or Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sent a poor message to Israel.
"Whilst a government representative is a positive step, sending the most junior representative compares poorly to Australia's partners and allies who have sent presidents, prime ministers, foreign and defence ministers," they said in a statement.
Assistant foreign minister Tim Watts, who is not a cabinet member, will become the first Australian government representative to travel to Israel since Hamas' attack. Source: AAP / James Ross
Colin Rubenstein, executive director at the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), said he was "very pleased" at Wong's intention to travel to Israel.
AIJAC is the organiser of the delegation led by Birmingham.
"We trust that the foreign minister will maintain the government’s strong and sensible stance that, as she and colleagues have stipulated, the dismantling of Hamas will be required as part of any enduring peace," Rubenstein said.
The visit by Watts and the cross-parliamentary delegation comes early in what Israel has labelled a new phase of the war with Hamas.
The UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) said 1.9 million people - 85 per cent of Gaza's population - had been displaced and its shelters were four times over capacity.
Hamas gained power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006. Its stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel's right to exist.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. New Zealand and Paraguay list only its military wing as a terrorist group. In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly voted against a resolution condemning Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation.
- With Reuters via the Australian Associated Press.
