How Australia’s Labor Party Abandoned Israel
Australian Labor Party's support for Israel has eroded dramatically under PM Anthony Albanese, reversing decades of backing from leaders like H.V. Evatt and Bob Hawke who championed the Jewish state.
For much of the twentieth century, Australia’s Labor movement was instinctively pro-Israel. Some of the Jewish state’s most meaningful diplomatic support came not from conservatives, but from Labor leaders themselves. That history makes the party’s current posture under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese represent a massive erosion of such support - a clear historical break.
Labor’s pro-Israel legacy is well documented. In 1947–48, Australia’s External Affairs Minister H. V. Evatt played a pivotal role at the United Nations during deliberations over partition. As President of the UN General Assembly, Evatt supported the plan that led to the establishment of the State of Israel and voted accordingly. Israeli leaders later credited him as one of the non-Jewish diplomats most instrumental in securing Israel’s international legitimacy. This is fact.
Four decades later, Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke maintained warm and unapologetic support for Israel. Hawke consistently defended Israel’s right to security and strengthened bilateral ties. Support for Israel was not controversial inside Labor under Hawke’s leadership. There are many Australian Jews that feel very appreciative of Hawke’s support during his reign.
Today, that consensus is long gone.
Within the Australian Labor Party, support for Palestinian statehood has gradually become embedded in the party platform and is now passionately advocated for. At successive national conferences, Labor adopted formal positions recognising Palestine and sharpening criticism of Israeli policy. The 2018 conference committed Labor to recognising Palestinian statehood as party policy. The 2021 national platform reaffirmed this stance and intensified language around settlements.
After winning office in 2022, the Albanese government reversed Australia’s previous recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and has frequently aligned with United Nations resolutions critical of Israel. Labor’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong leads the charge on the international stage, shouting down Israel’s policies and actions whenever she gets the chance. These are not symbolic gestures; they are official policy decisions that shape Australia’s diplomatic posture.
Albanese’s own political history aligns with this dark ideological trajectory. Early in his parliamentary career, he helped establish the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine group and publicly met Yasser Arafat. Archival reporting and photographs from earlier decades also show him participating in pro-Palestinian activism. He has long been associated with Labor’s left faction, which stupidly frames the conflict through a post-colonial and human-rights lens that is sharply critical of Israel. This has become the norm for the Australian Labor Party and is now deeply entrenched in their pro-Muslim DNA.
Domestic Australian politics further reinforces this direction. Senior ministers such as Tony Burke, Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, and Jason Clare, Minister for Education, represent southwest Sydney electorates with some of the highest Muslim populations in Australia, including Lakemba, home to the prominent Lakemba Mosque. In these seats, strong pro-Israel positions carry obvious political risks, making sympathy towards the Islamic worldview electorally rational. We have witnessed frenzied celebrations and fireworks around southwest Sydney by the Muslim community, following the tragic events in Israel on October 7th 2023. A truly shameful and frightening juncture in our nation’s history.
For those of us in the Australian Jewish community, the shift is not abstract or academic, it is personal. Many years ago, Labor was a political party that stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel at its birth and defended its legitimacy without hesitation. Today, that instinctive friendship has been replaced by distance, anger and, too often, harsh public criticism. The contrast with Evatt and Hawke could not be starker. What was once a relationship built on trust now feels aloof and fragile. This is deeply disappointing and shameful to the Australian Jewish Community and will only get worse as time goes on.