Greg Sheridan, Foreign editor | June 25
RIAD Malki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority, would like to see Australian troops posted to the Gaza Strip as peacekeepers. More than that, he would be happy, in the event of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories, to have Australians posted in the West Bank.
Malki told me this in a meeting in Ramallah earlier this week. Specifically, he would like Arab, probably Egyptian, forces to come into Gaza, to stop rockets being fired at Israel and, in his words, to "stop any Israeli incursions into Gaza".
Then, he says, the Palestinian forces in Gaza should be professionalised. But to provide security, he says the Palestinians "are willing to accept international forces, NATO, American or Australian forces, in Gaza or the West Bank. We will go the extra mile. We will take away any excuse from the Israelis (not to withdraw from Palestinian territories)."
At the moment, Malki's proposal is unrealistic. The Palestinian Authority cannot guarantee its own security in Gaza. Egypt, let alone the US or Australia, would be unlikely to commit troops and the Israelis would not accept a restriction on their right to self-defence.
Nonetheless, in the unlikely event that a peace deal is reached between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the question of international forces to monitor the deal and perhaps to guard borders will become a real one.
Given Australia's remarkable history of involvement in the Middle East, the question of our participation should be given serious consideration by Canberra.
The fact that the Palestinian foreign minister suggested Australian soldiers reflects the high reputation of our troops. But it also demonstrates that Australia's deep friendship with Israel has not remotely diminished our credibility with the Arab world.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former treasurer Peter Costello are visiting Israel as part of the inaugural Australia Israel Leadership Forum, organised by Melbourne businessman Albert Dadon.
Gillard deserves particular praise for attending the forum, as she was subject to a nasty campaign from the Left to try to intimidate her out of going. The Left internationally is going through one of its periodic bouts of trying to isolate Israel. This is one of those demented moments where allegedly progressive opinion believes it's the height of creativity to engage the mullah dictatorship in Iran, as it steals elections and pursues nuclear weapons, but wrong to visit a democratic ally such as Israel.
The Rudd government has stood four square against this nonsensical position, as demonstrated in Kevin Rudd's long telephone conversation with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, earlier this week.
Rudd, who follows the Middle East with forensic attention to detail, discussed Netanyahu's speech responding to US President Barack Obama's Cairo address to the Muslim world. Specifically Rudd and Netanyahu discussed the prospect of a Palestinian state and the situation in Iran. Read more here...
Source: The Australian
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