An Australian government insider has accused Israel’s ambassador of making “shockingly unprofessional and unproductive” comments in a dispute over potential funding for a key UN agency.
Israeli Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said on Friday that Australia had previously supported “a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza that would only help Hamas reorganise” and now appeared to have forgotten “Hamas’ culpability” in the crisis in the region.
But a senior government source responded to Guardian Australia: “These comments are shockingly amateurish and counterproductive when the Australian government uses its voice to advocate for a path out of the conflict that will serve the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians.”
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Tensions have flared over debate over whether $6 million in funding Australia pledged in mid-January to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides services to Palestinian refugees, could be frozen.
More than 10 donor countries, including Australia, the US and the UK, suspended funding to UNRWA last weekend following Israeli allegations that up to 12 of its personnel were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Israel, which has long been a critic of UNRWA, has argued that the agency’s problems run deeper than allegations about the October 7 incident and that the agency should have no role in Gaza in the future.
These allegations include that schools are using textbooks containing anti-Semitic content and that other employees are affiliated with or sympathetic to Hamas.
In addition to dismissing staff allegedly involved in the incident on October 7, UNRWA said it had ordered multiple investigations but a lack of funding meant it may not be able to continue operating after the end of February.
Australian foreign minister Penny Wong said the allegations against UNRWA staff were “deeply concerning” and that they must be “thoroughly investigated and those responsible held to account”.
Wong instructed Australia’s humanitarian coordinator, Beth Delaney, to “lead immediate coordinated efforts with like-minded partners alongside UNRWA” to determine next steps.
Wong said it was important to remember “the scale of the humanitarian crisis” in Gaza and “the absence of any alternative if we are serious about ensuring fewer children starve.”
He noted UN estimates that “400,000 Palestinians in Gaza are actually starving to death and another million are at risk of starvation” and that 1.7 million people in Gaza are internally displaced.
“The number of safe places for Palestinians to go is dwindling,” Wong said Thursday.
This encouraged Maimon to openly respond to the government. He said 136 Israeli hostages, including babies, were still “held in Hamas dungeons without any sign of assistance from the UN or any of its agencies.”
“Now, listening to the latest statements from Australian officials, it seems that Hamas’s guilt has been forgotten, along with the fate of tens of thousands of displaced Israelis and the starvation of Israeli hostages in Gaza,” Maimon said. wrote to X on Friday.
The comments drew the ire of the Australian government, which has repeatedly condemned Hamas and supported Israel’s right to self-defense while saying it must act in accordance with international law.
Palestine’s general delegation to Australia had previously appealed directly to Wong for the restoration of funding, saying the suspension would have “terrible consequences” on the Gaza Strip “where more than 2 million desperate, besieged and starving people depend on UNRWA’s humanitarian work” he said. their survival”.
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The Australian government also reiterated on Friday its opposition to a re-occupation of Gaza amid signals that the US and UK are considering recognizing the Palestinian state sooner.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing back against growing international pressure to find a path to a sovereign Palestinian state that would secure lasting peace, insisting that Israel must retain security control of all areas west of the Jordan River.
Ministers and parliamentarians in Netanyahu’s coalition government attended a conference last Sunday calling for Israeli resettlement in the Gaza Strip and the “voluntary migration” of the Palestinian population elsewhere.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade responded by saying that the Australian government “has been clear and consistent in opposing the forced removal of Palestinians from Gaza, the re-occupation of Gaza or any reduction of its territory.”
New Israel Fund Australia, an organization of progressive Australian Jews and other supporters, said recognition of a Palestinian state would “help advance peace prospects being held as part of current negotiations for a permanent ceasefire in exchange for Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners”. ”.
Executive Director Michael Chaitow said the fund supported “two states for two peoples” and welcomed signals from the US and UK that they were “willing to take action to make this a reality”.
Chaitow said Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence are obstacles to peace.
“The Australian government should follow its American and European allies and impose travel bans and sanctions on violent settlers causing serious harm in occupied Palestinian territory,” he said.