‘Appeasement’: Dutton lashes out on Israel

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has blasted the Albanese government over its response to the rapidly expanding conflict in the Middle East, saying the Prime Minister’s “appeasement path” is hurting Australia’s global standing.

Anthony Albanese and his federal cabinet have not shifted from their calls for de-escalation even after Iran, which backs the Islamic fundamentalist groups Israel is fighting in Lebanon and Gaza, launched a barrage of nearly 200 missiles at Israel.

Mr Dutton has criticised the government all week over its response to shows of support for terrorist group Hezbollah at protests in Sydney and Melbourne, but his latest remarks on Thursday were sparked by Defence Minister Richard Marles again calling for a 21-day ceasefire on the Israel-Lebanon border.

“If Richard Marles wants to go down the appeasement path of Anthony Albanese, that’s an issue for him, but frankly, I think he diminishes himself by being at odds with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and our partners otherwise,” Mr Dutton said.

“Israel is an ally of our country. Israel has provided intelligence to us to save lives of Australians and stop terrorist attacks from taking place on our own soldiers in the Middle East.”

The Israeli military action in southern Lebanon, which has been largely limited to air strikes, came after nearly a year of cross-border rocket fire from Hezbollah.

Consequently, tens of thousands of residents have been forced from their homes in Israel’s north.

Hezbollah began firing rockets at civilian areas in Israel in solidarity with Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that administers Gaza.

Hamas killed 1200 people in its horrific October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, prompting a massive military response in Gaza that has killed upward of 40,000 Palestinians.

With Iran now stepping up its involvement, there are widespread fears the conflict could grow to include countries with powerful arsenals.

Mr Marles, who is also the deputy prime minister, said earlier on Thursday that the government was “exercising our international voice to support a ceasefire.”

He condemned Iran’s missile attacks “in the strongest possible terms” and said Israel had the right to defend itself against Iran.

“They’ve been the subject of attacks from Hezbollah and we condemn those as of course they were a year ago in which they were subject to attacks from Hamas,” Mr Marles said.

“Israel has a right to defend itself. Every country has a right to defend itself and to do so in a proportionate way.

“That said, we are calling for a ceasefire along with the United States, along with other members of the international community.

“The continued violence in the Middle East is giving rise to significant numbers, unacceptable numbers of civilian lives lost, and the ongoing violence is a threat to civilian life.”

But Mr Dutton said the Albanese government was not taking a hard enough line against Iran or showing enough support for Israel.

“(Israel is) a democracy, they are an important ally of ours, and they are under threat and attack this very moment,” he said.

“And for the Defence Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of our country to be talking about some sort of an appeasement is not going to work, and frankly, it diminishes our relationship not only with Israel, but it also says to our other allies that an Albanese-Marles government will only support our allies if it’s in their domestic political interests.”