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Storm erupts over letter signed by ex-Australian Prime Ministers supporting Israel

A storm of controversy has erupted over who drafted a letter signed by six former Australian Prime Ministers condemning the terrorist group Hamas.

In a historic show of unity, John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison co-authored a joint statement on Monday, denouncing Hamas’ “cruel” October 7 attack on Israel, and calling for peace via a two-state solution.

In the letter, which was published on the Zionist Federation of Australia’s website, the former PMs said they were “horrified by the thousands of deaths and injuries inflicted on innocent Palestinian civilians, including many, many Palestinian children”.

“At this time, more than ever, we must in the words of the 34th Psalm: ‘Seek peace and pursue it.’ And here at home that is done by defending our Australian values, condemning hate speech and intolerance and respecting the people of Australia in all our diversity,” it read.

In a statement on Sunday, Mr Keating, who was the only living former PM to not take part, explained his decision to sit out of the letter and claimed it was “drafted by the Zionist Federation of Australia”.

“Mark Leibler [lawyer and President of the Zionist Federation of Australia] contacted me earlier last week proposing the prospective joint statement for my agreement and signature,” he wrote.

“I told Leibler in a written message that I would not be agreeing to join other former Prime Ministers in authorising the statement.”

Mr Keating’s statement was shared by law firm Marque Lawyers on X, who wrote: “If it’s true that six former prime ministers have signed a statement drafted by a lobby group – any lobby group – that’s not good.”

The claim was quickly rubbished by former Sydney Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull who simply wrote: “It is not true.”

Malcolm Turnbull further stressed the statement was drafted “exclusively” by the former leaders in a social media post on Monday.

“I want to make it very clear. This statement was drafted exclusively by the former PMs and nobody else,” he wrote on X.

However, not everyone was convinced, with one person saying it was “absolute rubbish” and another pointing out a spelling mistake in Scott Morrison’s name at the bottom of the letter which reads: “The Hon. Scott Morisson MP”.

“If that’s the case, Scott can’t spell his own name,” they wrote.

A lawyer also expressed her discomfort with a “powerful lobby group (potentially representing the national interests of another country) having the (alleged) power to contact former prime ministers from both parties for a ‘statement of support’”.

Tony Abbott sings Malcolm Turnbull’s praises

Speaking to 2GB radio, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it was Malcolm Turnbull who originally drafted the statement, saying he did a “wonderful job” in a rare moment of praise.

“Malcolm quite suitably said look if it’s going to come from all of the former prime ministers, it should be drafted by one of us and Malcolm then drafted the words,” said Mr Abbott.

“We all had our say, there was one or two minor amendments made.”

He added it was a “beautiful” statement that he was proud to be a part of.

“You don’t often find Tony Abbott singing Malcolm Turnbull’s praises. This was really Malcolm’s great work here.”

‘Humbled and touched’

Mr Leibler from the Zionist Federation of Australia praised the former prime ministers’ letter, saying the Jewish community was “humbled and touched by their support”.

“This statement reinforces the longstanding bipartisan support of Israel from successive Australian governments,” he said.

“The Prime Ministers’ decisions to individually sign, and jointly release such a statement today sends a message to the world that Australians understand what is right and what is wrong and will not stand back when leadership is needed the most.”

Palestinian group says PMs used as a “tool”

However, the statement was slammed by a Palestinian advocacy group, who also claimed it was drafted by the Zionist Federation of Australia and said the six leaders allowed themselves to be used as a “tool”.

“I’m most disturbed by the fact that six of our former Prime Ministers signed this statement knowing that it ignores Israel’s current and historical violations of international law,” said Nasser Mashni of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network.

“The statement’s reference to ‘Australian values of love and respect’ rings hollow, given that the former Prime Ministers failed to acknowledge the tens of thousands of Australians expressing their horror about Israel’s behaviour, and ignored the anguish that many thousands of Palestinian Australians are currently feeling.”

Mr Mashni added the former prime ministers had “failed in their duty as states people to equally uphold international law” and praised Mr Keating for not getting involved.

“Clearly Paul Keating wasn’t going to allow himself to be a pawn played by lobby groups, and we are disappointed others didn’t follow his example.”

News.com.au has reached out to the Zionist Federation of Australia for comment.

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Artie Phelan

Update: 2024-05-27