In the recent election, aided by a febrile Murdoch press, the right-wing campaign to smear Australia’s opposition as ‘antisemitic’ and ‘anti-Israel’ reached fever pitch. With Labor now in power, it’s time to set the record straight.

Last month in Australia, Anthony Albanese led a centre-left Labor government to victory, ending almost a decade of rule by the conservative Liberal and National party coalition.

While in the United States a majority of Jews lean Democratic, onlyone in fiveAustralian Jews identify as being politically closer to Labor. Despite this, Labor and the Jewish community have always had deep connections, even playing aformative rolein the UNs votes to partition Palestine and create a Jewish state.

In domestic politics, the previous governments last term saw frustration deepen at its refusal to do the bare minimum on key issues such as addressingclimate change, promotinggenderequality, and preserving theintegrityof the political system in the face ofcorruptionand the misuse ofpublic funds.

These issues gave the Liberal party a big headache deep in itstraditional heartland. Although Labors result was strong enough to win a majority, it was a contingent ofindependents all women who toppled some of the governments biggest stars. The government was said to have “lost its centre” and it seems the public broadly agreed. In the seat of Macnamara, home to many in Melbournes Jewish community, the Liberal vote droppedby a quarter.

Foreign policy also played a role in the campaign. Even though the main story was a defence deal Australias neighbour, the Solomon Islands, signed with Chinamid-campaign which seem to be the result of the governmentbunglingthe relationship the issue of Israel-Palestine also came up.

This happened partly because two of the seats at risk from the independent candidates contained Jewish populations. Keen to find any issue it could to stem the bleeding, the Liberal party dredged up bad faith charges ofantisemitismandanti-Israel bias. Supported by weeks offull-page adsin the local Jewish press and partisan editorials, it was a last-ditch attempt to scare Jewish voters into sticking with the government.

There was another reason these issues came up: the Liberal party like other conservative parties across the world has long sought to use Israel as a wedge against Labor and its other political opponents.

Trying to win Jewish votes ahead of a tightspecial electionin 2018, then Prime Minister Scott Morrison flagged that Australia couldfollow the Trump administration and recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital. Politicising foreign policy has long been a no-no in Australian political campaigns, but desperate to win votes, the Liberal party defied convention.

This election, the campaign to ‘own’ the pro-Israel vote by smearing the opposition reached fever pitch. Aided by a febrileMurdoch press, conservatives went on the attack, accusing Labor leader Anthony Albanese of abandoningbipartisan supportfor Israel.

For the Australian right, support for Israel only counts if it is a nuance-free blank check for right-wing Israeli governments. Criticism of Israeli settlement growth, Israels treatment of Palestinians under occupation or prime ministerialracismarent acceptable, even though they are staple talking points of Israels Zionist left.

Its true that in its nine years in opposition, Labors policy has been refined. Its support for Israel isunchanged it continues to support two-states and oppose the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement but its also hardly surprising that things would shift given their time in opposition aligned almost entirely with the Netanyahu-led rightward shift in Israeli politics.

In 2018, recognising the shift on the ground, the partys national platform called for recognition of a Palestinian stateas part of a comprehensive package which supported both Israel and Palestines existence in safe and secure borders. In 2021, in the wake of Israels unprecedented push towards annexation the previous year, it reaffirmed the resolution. It seems likely that the new government will begin a process to explore this recognition.

Focusing on that issue, asopponentsof thenewgovernmenthave, is shortsighted, not only in that it ignores global trends, but also in that it overstates its negative impact. Israels newest Abraham Accord allies in the Gulf havelong recognisedPalestinian statehood, as have more than100 other nations, while claims that doing so would somehowharm prospectsfor peace weredismissedrecently by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

For most of its time in opposition, Labors foreign affairs spokesperson and now its foreign minister has been Penny Wong. A smart, erudite and nuanced leader, she is widely respected in Australian politics. Within hours of her appointment she was at workreshaping some of Australias most important regional relationships. Even as Australias right-wing Jewish community leaders criticise Labors policies, they clearly have a deep respectfor her.

In an event last year for the New Israel Fund, Wong confirmed Labor as a “steadfast friend of Israel” and that Labors “public position [is] really clear you can be a friend of Israel, but you can also be principled about the issues that you raise concerns about.”

She specifically mentioned “annexation and the expansion of settlements [as] those issues which we consider to be inconsistent with a just peace and a two-state solution,” noting that “equally, where there is the sort of behaviour we have seen from terrorist organisations, that should be called out.”

With precision and clarity, Wong outlined the core of Labors positions on Israel, and one which puts it in lockstep with virtually each of Israels other most valued and strategically important relationships. In fact, it would be strange to see otherwise from a centre-left party like Australian Labor.

Outrageousstatements of concern from right-wing Jewish community leaders in Australia, such as the Australian Jewish Association accusing incoming prime minister Albanese of having made “extreme anti-Israel comments” and other new MPs of having “crossed the line into antisemitism,” fuel a dangerous game.

Having a community leadership pushpartisan politicsrather than honestly assessing the new leaderships actual positions and embracing the new political climate puts at risk the communitys relationship with the new government.

True supporters of Israel and its aspirations to be a pluralist and democratic homeland for the Jewish people, whether in Australia or elsewhere, will find Prime Minister Albanese and Foreign Minister Wong to be honest friends both of Israel and of efforts to build a lasting peace with the Palestinians.

Liam Getreu is the Sydney-based executive director of New Israel Fund Australia.

Original article published on Haaretz.com, republished with permission.