Australia’s Chief Lawmaker to Travel to Israel to Absolve Atrocities and Appease War Criminals
Towards the end of 2024, the federal Labor government made a few bold moves on the international stage in terms of Israel. This occurred after 12 months of unbridled support for Tel Aviv as it’s been perpetrating a heinous mass slaughter upon the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip.
But it’s now come to light that Australian attorney general Mark Dreyfus will be travelling to Israel in the coming weeks in an attempt to smooth over the rift between the two nations that’s occurred over our country having assessed Israel’s actions in an unfavourable manner.
This announcement has understandably sparked outrage in the Australian community, as this nation’s chief lawmaker is to be seen travelling to a country that’s perpetrating what the International Criminal Court (ICJ) ruled 12 months ago is a “plausible genocide”.
Genocide, or the attempted purposeful annihilation of a group of people due to their collective identity, is considered to be the worst crime that can be committed, and Australia’s top lawyer will be attempting to resolve frayed diplomatic ties, which have been sparked by this ongoing atrocity.
The top law officer will further be meeting with Israeli officials whilst over there, and this will quite likely include prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu’s name in November, in respect of a plethora of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity that the top Israeli minister is said to be responsible for.
However, for Australia to initially display something of a split with Israeli state actions, only to then send the country’s main legal advisor over to resolve any differences, not only makes the earlier political moves that had countered its original positions redundant, but it further suggests that our nation considers neither the Israeli state’s nor Netanyahu’s actions in regard to Gaza as problematic.
“A fugitive from the law”
“The first law officer of Australia should not be meeting with any officials of a state that is violating orders of the International Court of Justice, or with any members of the Netanyahu government, as their prime minister is a wanted man by the International Criminal Court,” said Rawan Arraf, executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, in a statement on Thursday.
“It is not the business of the attorney general to ‘mend’ relations with a state credibly accused of committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the maintenance of a decadeslong illegal occupation regime,” said the lawyer, who specialises in international law and the prosecution of the core atrocity crimes contained in the Rome Statute.
In a genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa in late 2023, the International Court of Justice provided an interim decision on 26 January last year, finding that Israel is plausibly perpetrating a genocide in Gaza, and it gave that country a month to stop its genocidal actions.
Yet, 12 months later and Israel’s mass slaughter and starvation program in the Gaza Strip continues.
After a long delay, the International Criminal Court issued global arrest warrants in respect of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, who are now subject to potential arrest in all 108 countries that are a party to the court.
“What we should be doing instead is ensure that Israel comply with the ICJ orders, comply with international law, desist from its commission of international crimes against the Palestinian people, ensure accountability for the litany of violations committed, including in Australia, and demand that Netanyahu submit himself to the ICC for charges and trial,” Arraf made certain.
Acting in self-defence
Since the outbreak of the genocide in Gaza in early October 2023, the Albanese government had been providing Israel with unbridled support both on the international stage and domestically, until it made a few diplomatic gestures towards the end of last year that countered this long-term approach.
The most significant was when Australia broke with its previous stance in early December to vote in favour of a United Nations resolution calling on Israel to end its illegal occupation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the occupied Palestinian territories, “as rapidly as possible”.
Our nation went on to vote in favour of an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, as well as voting favourably in regard to another resolution defending the work of aid agency UNRWA and criticising Israel for obstructing the provision of aid to the Palestinians of The Strip.
Netanyahu condemned Australia for shifting its position and suggested the government’s actions would lead to terrorism, and, just like clockwork, the Addas Israel Synagogue of Melbourne was then firebombed on 6 December, and the Israeli leader who currently has an arrest warrant out against his name, took once more to social media to claim that the serious vandalism had proven him right.
Rewarding large scale lawbreaking
The symbolism involved with the Australian attorney general being sent over to Israel has been lost upon no one.
Dreyfus may be the strongest supporter of Israel in the Albanese cabinet, but he’s also the overseer of the rule of law in this country, and he’s to fly to Tel Aviv to mend ties with one of the most serious lawbreakers on the planet right now, both in terms of nations and political leaders.
The International Court of Justice issued clear orders for the Israeli state to stop committing genocidal acts and open up the provision of aid into the Gaza Strip 12 months ago, however, both these changes continue to be unactioned a year on.
The International Criminal Court has issued the first arrest warrants in respect of western political leaders, and Netanyahu stands charged with “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts”.
For Australia to send its top legal officer now sends a message that this nation doesn’t consider the Israeli state’s blatant violations of international law an issue.
Indeed, Sydney law firm Birchgrove Legal submitted a genocide complicity claim to the ICC. This document charges a number of Australian major party politicians, including the PM, with genocide complicity.
And the legal complaint has since been attached to the case that court is running in regard to human rights violations in the Palestinian territory, which is the same legal action that led to the arrest warrant that’s been issued against Netanyahu’s name.
“It is equally outrageous that the shadow attorney general should be calling for open defiance of the rule of law,” Arraf said on Thursday.
“Our law societies and bar associations should be speaking up to defend and protect the rule of law,” the human rights lawyer said in conclusion.