‘Please don’t join’: Husic wants Australians out of IDF as Howard warns against Palestinian recognition

1 week ago 4

Former Labor frontbencher Ed Husic has called for the Albanese government to warn Israeli-Australian dual nationals against joining the Israeli military, arguing there is a risk they could be implicated in genocide charges over the war in Gaza.

Husic’s intervention came as former prime minister John Howard and ex-foreign minister Alexander Downer blasted the government’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood, calling it “a betrayal of the legal order that underpins the very idea of a rules-based international system”.

Labor MP Ed Husic said the government should consider banning dual nationals from overseas military service.

The Israel Defence Forces [IDF] announced this week that it would start calling up around 60,000 reserve soldiers to prepare for its plan to conquer Gaza City, the largest urban area in the devastated enclave.

Husic, who lost his spot in cabinet after the May 3 election in a Labor right-faction power play, told parliament on Wednesday night that the ferocity of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza demanded stronger action from the government.

“We don’t need Australians placed in a position where they witness, abet or participate in what will likely be deemed a genocide,” Husic said.

“I’d urge our government to send a clear statement surrounding the risks of participating in IDF actions in Gaza.

“I’d also urge our government to consider reforming our laws to prevent dual nationals joining a foreign force, in cases where a body with the weight of the [International Court of Justice] believes plausible genocide could be occurring in a part of the world where that foreign force is operating.”

The International Court of Justice has begun hearings on whether Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, and the International Criminal Court has charged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with war crimes for using starvation as a method of warfare.

In a lengthy statement issued on Thursday, Howard and Downer said they were “appalled” by the government’s handling of the relationship with Israel and the decision to recognise Palestine at the United Nations this month as part of a push by France, the UK and Canada to rebuild momentum for a two-state solution.

Former prime minister John Howard said he was “appalled” by the Albanese government’s handling of relations with Israel.

“Statehood in international law is not a prize handed out to reward sympathy or to satisfy political sentiment,” they wrote.

Howard and Downer, the nation’s longest serving foreign minister, argued that Palestine does not meet the internationally recognised criteria for statehood: a defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government, and the capacity to engage in relations with other states.

“Recognition of Palestine under these circumstances is not a legal act but a political gesture,” they wrote.

“Worse, it is a gesture that directly undermines the very frameworks designed to resolve the Israeli– Palestinian conflict.”

They argued that a two-state solution “cannot be imposed from abroad” but “must be built painstakingly by the parties themselves, through negotiation, compromise, and responsibility”.

The world’s biggest academic association of genocide scholars passed a resolution this week saying the legal criteria have been met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a charge dismissed by Israel as disgraceful and “entirely based on Hamas’ campaign of lies”.

Husic said that, given Netanyahu’s stated plan to seize control of the entire Gaza Strip: “We should be sending a clear message: please don’t join. Some dual nationals have already left Australia to join the IDF, prompting concerns in civil society.”

It is unclear how many Australians are serving in the IDF, but several publicly said they would travel from Australia to Israel to serve after the October 7 Hamas attacks that killed an estimated 1200 people in Israel in 2023.

Israeli-Australian Lior Sivan died in December 2023 while serving as a tank commander in Gaza.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said that Australia’s foreign fighter legislation – which bans Australians from entering war zones with the intention of engaging in combat – does not apply to dual citizens who fight in the military of another country.

Husic noted the view of Australian National University professor Don Rothwell that it is “most unlikely” that Australians would be “held responsible individually for genocide” for serving in the IDF given genocide is considered a high-level political crime.

He countered that the Australian Centre for International Justice has warned that Australians serving in Gaza could face “a number of modes of liability, including as direct perpetrators, as well as aiding and abetting through the provision of logistical, material or operational support”.

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