Australian PM Anthony faces backlash for ceasefire call in Gaza

Australian Prime Minister (PM) Anthony Albanese faces backlash for ceasefire call between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Aussie politicians from PM’s Labor Party and opponent parties criticized the PM for the ceasefire call.

Labor MP Josh Burns has broken ranks with the cabinet to criticize after the vote of Australia in favor of the UN ceasefire resolution on Dec 12. Mr. Josh has condemned it as he fears it could result in repeat attacks of Hamas on Israel like October 7.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticised for his "shameful abandonment" of Israel following calls for a ceasefire, which a Labor MP has broken ranks with cabinet to condemn.https://t.co/VoF6gqJIQB
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) December 13, 2023

Despite criticism for supporting the UN resolution, PM Anthony today has issued a joint statement with his counterparts Canada and New Zealand. It calls for steps toward a “sustainable ceasefire” in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

This morning I released a joint statement on the Hamas-Israel conflict with Prime Minister @ChrisLuxonMP and Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau. Read the statement here:https://t.co/xHZmKXuy9s
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 12, 2023

Why are Aussie politicians criticizing Anthony’s call for a ceasefire?

Mr. Josh with a group of Australian MPs has been visiting Kfar Aza Kibbutz. Kfar is the site of a Hamas massacre in Israel. Jewish-Australian Labor MP Josh has pushed back at those calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after visiting the site of a Hamas massacre in Israel.

According to Liberal Senator James Patterson, the ceasefire call is Labor’s “shameful abandonment” of Israel. Mr.James tweeted that the recent move of Labor was a shameful abandonment of Israel. Our US and UK friends at the UN are yet another example of weak national security leadership.

It is important to note that the US and the UK abstained from voting in favor of the UN resolution for a ceasefire call.

Labor’s shameful abandonment of Israel & our US & UK allies at the UN is another display of weak leadership on national security. A ceasefire keeps Hamas in power, but Anthony Albanese is clearly caving to domestic political pressure.
— James Paterson (@SenPaterson) December 12, 2023

Furthermore, James wrote a ceasefire keeps Hamas in power, but Anthony Albanese is falling victim to domestic political pressure.

A former Liberal MP Tim Wilson then re-shared Mr James’s tweet. Tim blasted the Albanese government and called the recent move of the Aussie government its “dumbfounding decision.”

A dumbfounding decision. @JoshBurnsMP is rightly calling out this beta decision. We listed Hamas as a terrorist organisation in 2022 for a reason. You cannot have a ceasefire with a terrorist organisation. https://t.co/B2IvU7nkkO
— Tim Wilson (@TimWilsonMP) December 12, 2023

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Mr. Tim wrote that James is correctly pointing out this beta decision of Anthony’s government. We designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in 2022 for a reason. A cease-fire cannot be reached with a terrorist organization.

Moreover, a majority of Australian politicians want PM Anthony to visit Israel in the wake of Hamas attacks launched on October 7. But PM Anthony has refused to visit Israel.

Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham criticized the PM for refusing to visit Israel in the aftermath of Hamas attacks two months ago.