Federal MP Julian Leeser takes aim at Iran
'What we're seeing in Israel is the fruit of Iranian sponsored terror around the world,' Liberal MP says
Federal Liberal MP Julian Leeser says Australia should reconsider its relationship with Iran in light of its role in Hamas’ heinous attack on Israel.
Registering his disgust to Sky News host Chris Kenny on Monday night, the former shadow attorney-general described the events of Saturday as “an unprecedented attack by an organisation that we list in our own country as a terrorist organisation”.
“We’ve had women sexually assaulted in the street, we’ve had children captured, caged and killed, we’ve had Holocaust survivors kidnapped, we’ve had people attending a dance party murdered in the hundreds,” he said.
Asked how much direct involvement he believed Iran had in the operation, the Member for Berowra said the Islamic Republic “has been deeply involved”.
“We know they’ve financed and supported Hamas for many years. I think people who don’t believe Iran is involved haven’t been paying attention,” he said.
He said the Iranian regime is a criminal regime.
“I’ve said that in the parliament in relation to its treatment of its own people. The way in which Iran has been destabilising the entire region, whether it’s Lebanon or Israel, Syria, is just extraordinary,” he said.
“In Australia, we need to reconsider our diplomatic relations with Iran. If we’re to have a values-based foreign policy, and we’re to be serious about that, we have to question why we continue any sort of diplomatic relations.
“Iran doesn’t deserve a seat at the table. They have been for a long time a rogue regime, a criminal regime. What we’re seeing in Israel is the fruit of Iranian sponsored terror around the world.”
Kenny noted, “This is almost unprecedented to see this level of barbarity yet we see people celebrate on the streets of Australia, in Europe, in North America. It’s astounding that such hatred could be there for Jewish people.”
Leeser agreed, calling hatred of Israel “just the latest form of antisemitism”.
“I want to condemn Australian organisations that are celebrating these disgusting attacks,” he said.
“Whatever one’s view on the general issue of Israel-Palestine is, no one should be praising or condoning the murder and rape and kidnapping of innocent people going about their daily lives. This is just unprecedented in its depravity and disgust.”
Former senior vice-president of the NSW Labor Party and Labor Israel Action Committee member Michael Easson also took aim at Iran on social media on Sunday.
“The Iranians send tens of thousands of rockets for the extremists to use. That’s their only priority. Humanitarian aid be damned, from Tehran’s cynical perspective,” he wrote on social media. “That’s another stark truth from what we are seeing. The ordinary folk of Gaza are pawns in the game plans of the theocratic Islamic Republic of Iran.
“It is a reason the human situation is so dire in Gaza … Every time the terrorists’ Jew killing is unleashed it undermines the sensible and compassionate voices in Israel and Palestine.”
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