(Canberra Times, 8/11/2023)
Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged Anthony Albanese not to go to Israel to show solidarity in the middle of the war with Hamas, accusing his successor Scott Morrison of “showboating” with his recent visit with former UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
Mr Turnbull, who is due to appear at the National Press Club on Wednesday, was asked on ABC radio on Tuesday about Liberal calls for Mr Albanese to visit Israel like other world leaders such as US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Mr Morrison, a strong supporter of Israel in office but now a backbencher, and Mr Johnson made a highly publicised joint visit to Israel over the weekend on what they called a “solidarity trip”. It included a tour of Israel’s south with the two men wearing bulletproof vests.
Former ambassador and former Liberal MP for the seat of Wentworth Dave Sharma has urged Mr Albanese to go as well, but Mr Turnbull advised against it.
“What’s Australia going to do, other than provide sympathy and solidarity? Albanese has got to keep his eye on the ball, which is being prime minister of Australia and advancing the interests of the Australian people,” the former prime minister told RN Breakfast.
“Leave the showboating for ScoMo and Boris.”
The Prime Minister is in the middle of a high-profile diplomatic whirl in which he just met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing ahead of this week’s Pacific Leaders Forum in the Cook Islands.
Mr Turnbull, who with Mr Morrison was one of six living prime ministers to sign a letter calling for Australians to remain united in the face of conflict abroad, said he understood Mr Sharma’s unique perspective, but it would serve no purpose.
“He’s wrong,” he said.
“Dave’s a good bloke, he was a good ambassador in Israel … but he’s running for Liberal Party pre-selection, so I can understand why he’s saying that in that context.”
While in office, Mr Morrison controversially followed the US Trump administration by recognising West Jerusalem in 2018 as Israel’s capital but the Australian embassy was never transferred from Tel Aviv. Many countries do not recognise any part of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The recognition was reversed by the Albanese government.