AIJAC welcomes stance on Iran, criticises omission of Hamas

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council has welcomed a joint Australia-New Zealand ministerial statement’s recognition of Iran as a destabilising force, but criticised its failure to acknowledge Hamas’s role in prolonging the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a statement responding to the Australia-New Zealand Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations on Monday, AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein said the statement’s principled stance against antisemitism following the Bondi Beach terror attack was welcome.

“It is regrettable, however, that when addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the statement singles out Israel while omitting the central role of Hamas’s ongoing attacks and refusal to disarm, as well as the Palestinian Authority’s failure to reform or end the Pay-to-Slay policy of rewarding terrorists with salaries,” Rubenstein said.

“These are commitments required by the Australian government when recognising a Palestinian state in August last year. Any credible pathway to peace requires acknowledging the full picture — including those actors and actions that continue to drive and sustain the conflict.”

The joint statement, released following consultations between Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and their New Zealand counterparts Judith Collins and Winston Peters, discussed the situation in the Middle East and Iran’s role as “a destabilising force and a threat to international peace and security”.

The statement condemned “Iran’s reckless and indiscriminate attacks on countries in the region” and referenced its nuclear programme, support for proxy groups and “brutal acts of violence against its own people and beyond its borders”.

However, on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the statement expressed “deep concern over Israel’s actions that undermine the path to peace, including the expansion of settlements and control over the West Bank, increasing settler violence against Palestinians, and restrictions on INGOs that impede their humanitarian operations”.

Rubenstein said AIJAC welcomed the statement’s “strong recognition of the Iranian regime’s long record as a destabilising force” including through its nuclear program, support for proxy terror groups and violence against its own people.

The ministers also expressed gratitude for New Zealand’s sympathy following the Bondi Beach terror attack and affirmed their commitment to stamping out antisemitism in all its forms.

The consultations covered a wide range of regional and global security issues including the 75th anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty, Pacific security cooperation, climate change, transnational organised crime, China’s activities in the South and East China Seas, Taiwan Strait stability, human rights concerns in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the crisis in Myanmar, and North Korea’s nuclear program.

The ministers also reaffirmed support for the Five Power Defence Arrangements, cooperation with NATO, the Five Eyes partnership, and support for Australia’s and New Zealand’s respective United Nations Security Council candidacies in 2029-2030 and 2039-2040.