‍This article first appeared in The Sunday Telegraph on 6 October 2024.

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When Hamas launched its devastating terrorist attack on Israel almost one year ago, murdering some 1200 people and taking another 250 hostage, the first response of the Labor government was provided by the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong.

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She called for Israel to act with “restraint” in seeking to oust Hamas terrorists from its towns and rescue civilians trapped in their homes.

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This muddle-headed and morally vacuous approach by Labor to the largest crisis in the Middle East in decades has continued ever since.

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Hamas continues to hold some 100 Israeli civilians hostage in Gaza.

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Hezbollah, to the north, began raining down missiles on Israel on 8 October and has not stopped since.

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The Houthis, in Yemen, have fired explosive-laden drones and missiles into Israel’s cities, and attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

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Iran has fired hundreds of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones at Israel.

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Yet the government continues with the fiction that all sides are to blame equally in this conflict,and to demand “de-escalation”.

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Anthony Albanese was at it again during the week. Unwilling to affirm what other Western leaders state clearly – that Israel has a right to respond to aggression – he retreated to a vacuous call for “de-escalation”.

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In Labor’s view, Israel just needs to absorb the beating, not fight back, and continue to tolerate existential threats massing on its borders.

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This is why the Labor government’s commentary and criticism of the past year has been directed at Israel, rather than the belligerent actors that precipitated the crisis. And why Labor’s diplomatic effort has been directed solely at Israel, as if there were no other parties involved.

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Penny Wong was at it again in her speech to the UN General Assembly, singling Israel out for criticism but entirely silent on the roles being played by Hezbollah and Iran.

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Labor’s approach, driven by domestic politics, the threat of the Greens, and the ascendant left of the Labor party, is harming Australia’s national interests. Australia should not be neutral in this conflict.

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Australia has a national interest in seeing terrorist actors such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis – despised in much of the Arab world – damaged and unable to cause future carnage.

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Australia also has a national interest in seeing Iran, the patron-state of these terrorist groups, significantly weakened.

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This is a state that has practised hostage diplomacy on Australian citizens, is pursuing nuclear weapons, and is arming Russia in its war against Ukraine.

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Iran rescued the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and has been a source of destabilisation in the Middle East since 1979.

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And Australia has a national interest in creating a more promising future for the people of the region, of all faiths and nationalities.

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A broader peace in the Middle East is possible, where people of different faiths coexist insecurity and where trade ties build mutual prosperity. Just look at what the Abraham Accordshave unleashed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

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But where Iran and its armed terrorist proxies continue to strangle enlightened political movements, stoke conflict and radicalise populations, they will continue to act as a veto onprogress.

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A more hopeful future can only be attained if these terrorist groups, which have held their populations hostage for too long – subjecting them to misery and hardship in pursuit of their own ideological goals – are dealt a significant blow.

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Israel is now prepared to take the fight to the terrorist organisation Hezbollah and its puppet master Iran. Israel should have Australia’s unqualified support.

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Liberal senator Dave Sharma served as Australia’s ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017.