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Israeli Lawmakers Call on Australian Counterparts to Reject Two-State Solution
Australian Member of Parliament Andrew Wallace. Photo: Screenshot
A group of Israeli politicians has called on Australian Members of Parliament to reject their country’s support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ahead of the upcoming Australian federal election.
In a letter signed by eight members from both governing coalition and opposition parties in the Knesset (Israeli parliament), lawmakers raised concerns about the Australian government’s increasing hostility toward Israel and the rising wave of antisemitic attacks against the local Jewish community in Australia.
Its signatories — including Ohad Tal of the Religious Zionism party, chair of the Australia-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group, and Amit Halevi from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party — also urged Australian politicians to abandon support for a two-state solution, claiming that continuing to back it would reward Hamas and those seeking to destroy Israel.
“While Australia’s main political parties formally continue to endorse two states, Israel’s political representatives and public have long opposed such a plan,” the letter read.
“Especially since the Oct. 7 massacre, it is clear that the creation of a Palestinian state would mean the destruction of the state of Israel,” the lawmakers added, referring to Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Addressed to Australian politician Andrew Wallace, former speaker of the House of Representatives, the letter said that rejecting the government’s current stance would “benefit” both countries.
“Such a move would send a strong message of support and friendship to Israel and to Jewish Australians,” the Israeli officials wrote. “It would also express a commitment to common sense, justice, and peace in Israel and in the region.”
The letter comes ahead of Australia’ federal election in May, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces criticism from the conservative opposition for being ineffective in preventing hate crimes against Jews.
Israel has previously called on the Australian government to do more to halt the “epidemic of antisemitism” in the country.
While Albanese defended his government’s response, stating it was doing all it could to combat the recent attacks, Netanyahu blamed the rise in antisemitic incidents on the Australian government’s alleged animus toward Israel, accusing it of holding an “extreme anti-Israeli position.”
The letter was initially given to Australian coalition members of parliament and senators during an event in Parliament House in February, celebrating the launch of the Australia-Israel Allies Caucus.
“The consequences of Oct. 7 must include the deletion of the two-state option rather than rewarding the savages who committed the massacre,” the letter read. “A Palestinian state would serve the sole, defining, antisemitic goal of Palestinian nationalism: the eradication of the Jewish state.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Penny Wong, reaffirmed the government’s position supporting both a Palestinian state and the state of Israel, “living side by side in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has previously criticized the Australian government, saying it treated Israel as “an adversary” by urging Jerusalem to scale back its military actions against Hamas in Gaza.
“The Albanese government has adopted adversarial positions towards Israel to shore-up Labor votes in certain seats where there are, undeniably, anti-Israel and antisemitic views,” Dutton said.
According to Nasser Mashni, the president of Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, this letter reveals the “true intentions of the Israeli government, which has never been interested in the Palestinian people achieving self-determination or liberation.”
“It confirms what we’ve always known, and what Israel’s genocide in Gaza underscores – the two-state solution has always been a hollow promise, designed to enable Israel to maintain its apartheid and occupation while the rest of the world ignores Palestinian justice,” Mashni said.
The post Israeli Lawmakers Call on Australian Counterparts to Reject Two-State Solution first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.