Aussie opposition leader vows to restore ties with Israel and Netanyahu if elected

Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton says one of his first acts if elected premier in May will be to bolster ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

In his first major foreign policy address, Dutton says calling Netanyahu will be among his first official acts, calling the current government’s stance toward Israel one of its “most egregious foreign policy failures.”

“Instead of treating Israel like the ally it is, this Government has treated Israel like an adversary,” he says, according to a transcript of the speech released by his office.

The Liberal Party leader promises that Canberra will end funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the main agency providing aid for Palestinian refugees, citing its employment of Gazans who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

He adds that Australia will resume voting with Israel at the UN, accusing the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of adopting “adversarial positions towards Israel to shore-up Labor votes in certain seats where there are, undeniably, anti-Israel and antisemitic views.”

He does not address a rash of antisemitic attacks in Australia seemingly linked to the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Dutton also says he will make Washington his first overseas stop if elected, seemingly marking a pivot toward the US and away from Southeast Asia where Canberra has normally focused its foreign policy efforts.

Elections in Australia are scheduled for mid-May.