Search

Australian FM refuses to visit Oct 7th massacre sites during Israel trip

Jewish Australian MP blasted Wong for not visiting the kibbutzim and said she is ‘one of the worst Foreign Ministers Australia has ever had.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong is making a comprehensive trip to the Middle East in an effort to “create a durable peace” but missing from her itinerary are visits to the southern kibbutzim in Israel devastated by the Hamas invasion on October 7th.

Politicians and celebrities from around the world have visited the kibbutzim to pay their respects and to make it clear they understand Israel’s current challenges, but the Australian foreign minister has declined to visit any sites of the October 7th attacks.

Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute called Wong’s not visiting the kibbutzim an “unfortunate” decision.

He told Sky News, “I think that it’s unfortunate that she’s chosen not to visit the kibbutzim essentially they are only a short distance from where she’s holding a meeting with the Israeli government.”

Davis added, “So really there’s no valid justification for her to say she can’t visit them.”

He concluded, “I think it would have shown sensitivity on her part to the victims of that Hamas attack to at least go and visit the site of the attack.”

Read  Suspicions grow that Hamas may not have 40 live hostages to swap for prisoners

A Jewish Australian MP attacked Wong for not visiting the kibbutzim and said she is “one of the worst Foreign Ministers we’ve ever had.”

Wong left for the Middle East on Monday and will stay in the region for a week.

In a Press Release Won, who has called for a “sustainable ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war, outlined her itinerary, beginning with a visit to Jordan “to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to discuss international efforts to re-start a political process that leads to a future Palestinian state.”

She then mentions her visit to Israel  to show “support for Israel’s security and its right to defend itself in the face of terrorism, while stressing that the way it does so matters.”

Wong says she will meet with families of hostages and survivors of the October 7th massacre, but doesn’t mention a visit to the kibbutzim.

Wong added she will “reaffirm Australia’s call for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages.”