Canberra is playing with fire
The consequence will not be a softening of anti-Zionist hatred, but a hardening.
When Australia’s ambassador to the United Nations, James Larsen, stood before the General Assembly this week and declared support for Palestinian statehood as a “momentum builder” for peace, the words carried more weight than mere diplomacy. Larsen’s statement wasn’t just the musings of a lone envoy—it was, almost certainly, a message sanctioned by Canberra, hinting at a significant shift in Australian foreign policy. But the implications of this shift, particularly in the wake of Hamas’s October 7th atrocities and the ongoing hostage crisis, go far deeper than diplomatic nuance.
This is not about promoting peace. It is about rewriting the moral ledger of the Israel-Hamas conflict, erasing cause and spotlighting effect. The October 7th massacre, where children were slaughtered and families burned alive, has already faded from the global conversation. In its place is a narrative that treats a Hamas-dominated Gaza and a corrupt, rejectionist Palestinian Authority as legitimate partners for peace—never mind that one rules by terror and the other by duplicity. Larsen’s call is a classic act of gaslighting: by suggesting that recognition of Palestinian statehood will “break the cycle of violence,” it inverts reality, casting Israel as the obstacle to peace rather than the victim of an unrelenting campaign of ethno-religious terror.
Yet the greater danger lies closer to home. Larsen’s statement, and the likely Australian endorsement of unilateral Palestinian statehood at the upcoming UN conference, will not mollify the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist protestors who have flooded Australian streets in recent months. It will not silence the mobs who have chanted for intifada, firebombed synagogues, burnt cars, assaulted Jews in the streets of Australia, and demonised Jewish students on campus. On the contrary, it will embolden them. It will confirm their belief that relentless agitation—loud, aggressive, and unapologetically hostile—can bend Australian foreign policy to their will.
In this, Canberra is playing with fire. Instead of isolating extremism, it is feeding it. Instead of reinforcing democratic principles and moral clarity, it is signaling that noise and fury can supplant justice and truth. The consequence will not be a softening of anti-Zionist hatred, but a hardening. It will give the haters reason to double down, convinced that victory is not found in reasoned debate, but in relentless intimidation. The assault on the Jewish community will grow, not lessen, and Australia will suffer for appeasing those who do not share in its values.
Australia risks learning a bitter lesson: appeasement does not quiet the mob—it invites it to grow louder.
Adam Slonim is the director of the Middle East Policy Forum.
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