The Blogs: Australia’s betrayal may help strengthen Israel | Robert Gregory

The Australian Government’s unilateral recognition of a ‘State of Palestine’ is a betrayal of Israel, a betrayal of Australia’s Jewish community and marks the end of Australia’s bipartisan approach to the Middle East conflict. But there is a silver lining.

Israel is widely expected to respond with far-reaching moves which had long been sought by many Israelis but always sidelined because of a fear of how the West would respond. Well, France, the UK, Australia, Canada and others have now shown their cards.

There is growing momentum within Israel to declare sovereignty over some or all of Judea and Samaria (West Bank). This region is not some abstract territory. It is the cradle of the Jewish people. The defining chapters of Jewish history took place in Hebron, Jericho, Bethlehem, and Shechem (Nablus) not Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Ramat Gan, or Netanya, all founded only in the 20th century. The Jewish right to Tel Aviv derives from the Jewish right to ancient Hebron.

There was a continuous Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria from biblical times until the 20th century, when Arab riots and massacres forced out the last Jews.

International law also confirms the Jewish claim. The 1917 Balfour Declaration pledged support for the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland. That pledge was incorporated into international law by the 1920 San Remo Conference, which assigned the Mandate for Palestine to Britain with the specific duty of implementing the Jewish national home. At that time, ‘Palestine’ meant all the land west of the Jordan River; Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem included.

The 1947 UN Partition Plan cut off these historic lands from the proposed Jewish state. Despite deep misgivings and fierce opposition, the Jewish leadership accepted the reduced borders.

The Arab world saved Israel from its own restraint and launched a war with seven invading armies, promising to annihilate the fledgling Jewish state. Instead, tiny Israel prevailed, securing land well beyond what the UN had allotted.

Tragically, Judea, Samaria, and the Old City of Jerusalem fell under illegal Jordanian occupation. Every Jew was expelled. Ancient synagogues were dynamited. No Jew was allowed to visit Judaism’s Holiest sites, the Temple Mount, the Western Wall and Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs. Under Jordan’s occupation, the term, ‘West Bank’ was invented and applied to the area.

For 19 years, Jews stood on Israel’s side of the Armistice Line and looked out longingly at their stolen homes and heritage. Yet even then, Israel, always seeking peace, refrained from reclaiming its rights.

In 1967, Jordan again attacked despite Israel’s pleas to prevent war. In just 6 days, the tiny Jewish State captured land which caused it to triple in size. Judea/Samaria once more was returned to the Jewish people. But Israeli governments continued to hesitate, fearful of world opinion.

Over the decades, Israel even offered almost all of Judea and Samaria repeatedly for the creation of a Palestinian Arab state, something that has never existed in history. Yasser Arafat and his successors rejected every offer, however generous. Instead of peace, Israel received waves of terror.

Jewish settlement began gradually, starting with the re-population of those communities which had been massacred and destroyed just 19 years earlier, then spreading to historic Jewish centres like Hebron.

As anyone who’s been there knows, Judea/Samaria is made up of vast tracts of empty land while the Arab population has historically concentrated in a few urban centres.

After their overly generous offers to create a Palestinian State were rejected, Israelis looked for a new strategy. Instead of declaring sovereignty over the area, they decided to unilaterally divorce themselves from the Palestinian Arabs.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and expelled every last Jew. The Government ignored warnings about what would happen if Gaza was handed over to the Palestinian Arabs. Shortly after, Gazans elected the terrorist organisation, Hamas, to govern it, and began a never-ending series of wars against Israel.

Despite Israel’s best efforts to leave Gaza, it was constantly dragged back in. Israel built a tall fence so the Gazans learned to fire rockets over it. Israel invented the Iron Dome to shoot down those rockets, so the Gazans dug tunnels into Israel and so on. On October 7, 2023, Gaza proved those warnings from 2005 right and forced Israel to do what it should have done long ago and return the Israeli presence to Gaza.

In parallel with the Gaza expulsion, Israel destroyed 4 Jewish communities in the northern West Bank around the city of Jenin. The area turned into a terrorist hub and Israel has recently taken steps to reverse that decision.

Every couple of decades, Israel learns the same lesson.

Each time Israel has yielded land for peace, it has received war. Each time Israel has delayed asserting its rights, it has been forced by events to act. The pattern is unmistakable.

Israelis are desperate for peace and sometimes this causes them to refrain from taking necessary actions. Until now, they have been able to rely on their neighbours starting wars, which have allowed Israel to correct its mistakes.

Now, by recognising a Palestinian state in the heart of Israel, left-wing Western governments are once again pushing Israel toward the measures it should have taken years ago.

The 2000-year-old dream of restoring Jewish sovereignty in Israel’s heartland is on the table in a way it has never been before.

Israel’s Knesset has passed motions in support of Israeli sovereignty by a large margin. Israel understands that it will likely never face a US Administration as supportive as the Trump Administration.

One can declare the creation of anything but it’s the facts on the ground that matter. Even without declaring full sovereignty, there are many measures Israel can take to ensure that this Western dream doesn’t become the Middle East’s nightmare.

How will the West react?

Europe is a toothless tiger. They will huff and puff but what are they going to do, expel Israel from Eurovision? File another case with the International Criminal Court? Antisemitism is already surging and Jews, whether they are from Israel or not, are being attacked in European cities.

Australia is the same. The most anti-Israel government in our history already denies visas to Israelis and Jews regularly and synagogues are firebombed. What else can they threaten?

The lesson that Israelis learned from the West’s response to October 7 is that the West’s hypocritical attacks on Israel are divorced from the Jewish State’s action. Even before Israel had responded to the October 7 massacre, it was being accused of genocide and starvation.

For security reasons alone, Israelis will never agree to the creation of a Palestinian State towering over Tel Aviv. In effect, the West is declaring that October 7 was Palestinian Independence Day. Rewarding Hamas with a state only guarantees future wars and bloodshed.

Australia’s decision is a disgrace. But in the long run, it may prove a blessing in disguise. By stripping away the illusions of Western support, it forces Israel to do what victorious nations must always do after unprovoked attacks: secure their borders, assert their sovereignty, and ensure that defeat has permanent consequences for the aggressor.

Hamas regularly demonstrates that it doesn’t care about casualties, civilian or otherwise, but the permanent loss of land will serve as a deterrent for future wars.

On October 7, Israel’s enemies tried to wipe the Jewish State off the map. Since then, Israel has stunned the world by decapitating Hezbollah, striking Iran’s nuclear program and eliminating terrorist leaders from Gaza to Yemen. Today, Israel stands stronger than ever. The time has come to translate that strength into decisive action. Judea and Samaria are not bargaining chips. They are the heart of Israel, and their future must be secured once and for all.