Peter Rodgers
Peter Rodgers is a former Australian Ambassador to Israel who has written two books on the Middle East, Herzl’s Nightmare: One land, Two peoples, and Arabian Plights: The future Middle East. He is a former journalist and winner of the Australian Journalist of the Year Award.
Peter's recent articles
8 January 2025
Selective outrage won’t kill the death penalty
The world, thankfully, has come a long way from the time when animals as well as humans were put to death for unacceptable behaviour. Regrettably, Australia, a self-proclaimed abolitionist, is only really serious about capital punishment when the lives of its citizens are at stake.
7 December 2024
Australia and a Palestinian state—a dance of the seven veils?
Australia’s vote this week in support of a UN General Assembly resolution aimed at creating an “irreversible pathway” to a Palestinian state caps a year of important symbolic changes by the Albanese Government on this issue.
5 October 2024
Worried about earthlings, Martians pull the plug on closer cooperation
P&I has obtained a copy of the confidential report to headquarters prepared by a recent intelligence gathering mission to Australia from Mars.
19 March 2024
Australia must recall its ambassador to Israel and condemn the horror of Gaza
We need much more than the Gaza Pose. Weve seen the furrowed brows and sorrowful looks. Weve heard the regretful tones, the exhortations, the warnings, the carefully studied words.
10 January 2024
Gaza: Australian timidity, US hypocrisy
Just when will the horror that is Gaza today prompt the Albanese Government to acknowledge publicly that the war in the territory is now consumed by Israels blood-lust revenge and a hunger for ethnic reconfiguration? Is it too much to hope that the government can find a conscience of its own rather than mimicking the deceitful utterances of its US and Israeli friends?
9 November 2023
The day after: Destroying Gaza will only yield future war
At the core of the cycle of violence in Israel and Palestine is the studied blindness of two people to see the other, to accept that they have a legitimate place on the landscape. Without such acceptance, this horrific war in Gaza will not be the last.
24 October 2023
Netanyahus War
Hamass appalling attack has exposed an Israeli government with no plan for resolving its countrys greatest challenges.
3 October 2023
Killing for Country: Another plank in truth-telling
At the heart of David Marrs new book, Killing for Country, is a crucial question. How should we deal with old, ugly secrets within our own families? Should we ignore them as excesses of the past, when and where things were done differently, or should we examine them closely for clues and lessons that might shape our behaviour now?
30 August 2023
AUKUS and Israel-Palestine at the ALP National Conference
There was little to connect AUKUS and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the ALP National Conference except their shared victory in style over substance. AUKUS was locked into the party platform without meaningful debate. Revised wording on Israel/Palestine is worthy but will not make the slightest difference on the ground.
2 April 2023
Albos toxic legacy on AUKUS
After a long, Covid-enforced break, Dr Sigmund Freud (SF) has resumed his interviews with world leaders. He met recently with Prime Minister Albanese (AA).
4 February 2023
A Middle East diplomatic memoir with heft
Bob Bowkers recently published memoir enriches our understanding of the Middle East and reminds us that the corpse of the two-state solution in Israel-Palestine has been lying in the sun for years, though many countries, including Australia, determinedly hold their noses and avert their gaze.
20 November 2022
Qatar and the "Budweiser" World Cup
On Friday, beer sales were banned at eight tournament stadiums just days before the FIFA world cup commenced. This is a stunning about face from a sporting body. What explains such an embarrassing backdown?
10 November 2022
Labor brings Israel-Palestine policy back to the middle: will it matter?
The announcement of the Albanese Governments decision to reverse Australias recognition of West Jerusalem was sloppily handled. That was the only surprise in it.
2 October 2022
The Queen is dead, the big questions arent
Will the Queens death prompt meaningful debate about Australias colonial past and its republican future? I fear not. Too often we do the talk much better than the walk.
15 September 2022
Labor, Palestinian statehood and the UN General Assembly
With the ALP platform now formally supporting Palestinian statehood the Albanese government soon faces a tricky question. When the UN General Assembly convenes in mid-September (UNGA 77) will Australia put its vote(s) on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where its declared policy is?
16 June 2021
Israel's Government of change - or is it?
Israel now has the most diverse unity government in its history and its all thanks to one man: Benjamin Netanyahu. Without the visceral contempt for Netanyahu, engendered during his 12-year reign as Prime Minister, the possibility of such an assortment of parties coming together would have been unthinkable.
18 May 2021
Israel-Palestine plus a change, only worse
It may seem an odd, almost insensitive thing to say but the most searing aspect of the current appalling violence between Israelis and Palestinians is not the death, destruction and suffering from new storms of rockets and bombs and bullets. It is the awful, depressing predictability of it all. The only difference this time is the ugly spectre of violence between Israelis themselves.
13 May 2021
Australia and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - can policy overcome politics?
A new public opinion survey finding that Australians hold surprisingly balanced views about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict offers scope for the government to ditch its short-sighted, partisan approach. But will it?
6 October 2020
West Bank annexation - dead and buried or just comatose?
If Trump is re-elected and revives Netanyahus ambitions, Australia must have a plan to make the existing suspension permanent.
16 June 2020
Australias foolish and embarrassing silence over Israels annexation plans
What an absurd, paradoxical situation. The Australian Government pursued a very public campaign against China over Covid-19. Yet regarding Israels plan to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank - the government has lost its tongue.