Mustafa Donmez, PhD
mustafa.donmez@gc4ss.org

Senior Security Analyst
Global Center for Security Studies

The Israeli-Palestinian problem is a military and political conflict that has been going on for more than a hundred years, based on the claim that some of the lands controlled by Israel belong to Palestinian Arabs and that the Arabs have the right to self-determination in those lands[1]. Other reasons underlying that conflict are Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israel’s desire to expand its settlement areas, the borders between two countries (or a country and its autonomous region), security, water rights[2], the permit regime, the limits of Palestinian freedom of movement[3], and the right of Palestinians to return to their land. Since this conflict is a long-term and multifaceted problem based on historical, regional, religious and ethnic dimensions[4], it has not been resolved to date.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas, which governs Palestine, and some other Palestinian armed groups carried out a comprehensive air attack with rockets on the Israeli coastal towns of Ashdod and Ashkelon and even up to Tel Aviv, and a day later, Israel bombed Gaza and declared war on Palestine[5]. After these developments, this conflict gained a different dimension.

Figure.1. Global Demonstrations in Response to the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Source: ACLED, 2023

After this last conflict, some demonstrations were held in many countries around the world. In some of these demonstrations, Israel was protested, while in others slogans against Palestine were shouted.

The Australian Government has stated that it “supports a negotiated two-state solution” regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And as an extension of this policy, the Palestinian Authority has a representative office in Canberra and Australia has a representative office in the Ramallah region of Palestine. In addition, Australia named some of the Israeli territory as “occupied Palestinian territories”[6]. On the other hand, there are important diplomatic connections and extensive commercial interactions between the states of Australia and Israel. The beginning of official relations between these two countries dates back to 1949. At that time, an Australian Embassy was opened in Tel Aviv and an Israeli Embassy in Canberra[7].

Figure.2. The Map of Israel-Palestine Recognition

Source: Visual Capitalist, 2023

It would be appropriate to explain Australia’s attitude towards this conflict with constructivism, one of the theories of international relations. As it is known, constructivism is based on the idea that the fundamental element that determines the framework of a state’s foreign policies is its value systems (historical, social and cultural)[8].

It is possible to summarize Australia’s core values ​​in foreign policy as multilateralism, regionalism and establishing strong bilateral relations with its allies. The main factors that this state takes into consideration when creating policies in line with these core values ​​are economic cooperation with Asian countries, stability in the Indo-Pacific region, free trade between states, terrorism and the problem of refugees[9].

After a conflict that occurs in any geography of the world in a certain period, it is generally expected that political power or political forces will be reshaped, and therefore the mechanisms and elements that constitute political power need to be examined in depth[10]. Analyzing the motivations, interests, possible effects and interventions of external actors that influence a state’s foreign policy while creating it, provides policy makers with a holistic perspective and thus makes it easier to take precautions against problems before they occur. And this article focuses on how national security, one of the elements that constitute Australia’s political power, should be shaped after the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Ensuring national security is one of the fundamental duties of a state, and national security is defined as “the acquisition, deployment and use of military force to achieve national goals”[11]. Although it is assumed that national security has a very simple structure based on the definition, in reality this concept is a complex structure consisting of many elements. The basic components that constitute national security are shown in Figure 3 below.

Figure.3. The main components of a national security

Source: Ponomarenko et al., 2024[12]

The recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict is much bloodier than the previous ones, and in this case, Australia needs to adopt a more cautious policy, taking into account the ethnic groups factor, which is one of the components of national security. It should not allow a conflict tens of thousands of miles away from the Oceania continent to be brought to its own country.

According to 2001 census data, 248,807 Australians are of Arab descent, while an additional 209,372 Australians speak Arabic at home. 162,283 Australians were born in an Arab League member state, representing 0.8% of Australia’s total population. 120,000 Australians had a parent born in an Arab state[13]. On the other hand, according to 2016 census data, there are 99,956 people in this country who identify as Judaism as their religious affiliation and 29,113 Australians who identify as Jewish by ancestry[14].

Since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a “ethnic extremism, including the use of genocidal strategies” type of conflict, Australia should implement what needs to be done to prevent or at least reduce such conflicts during this period.

What Australia needs to do in this regard can be examined in two categories: internal and external national security measures. The task of creating rapid reaction forces for such conflicts is the duty of international organizations such as the United Nations. However, in order to implement preventive diplomacy outside the country, the Australian government should make a humanitarian intervention in this region, apply coercive diplomacy rules on the parties and deter them from using violence. Such activities that he will implement abroad will also calm the Arabs and Jews within the country.

What Australia needs to do within the country is basically community policing activities. Local community policing teams can further soothe Arab and Jewish communities by carrying out joint activities that will lead them to live in peace. For example, Jews participating in these celebrations on holidays that the Arabs consider sacred, and Arabs joining them on the holidays that the Jews consider sacred, will thaw the ice. Moreover, the inclusion of Arab and Jewish young people in the same team in the projects initiated by those working in the community policing unit and success and failure together will bring them closer to each other.

The Australian Government must come up with much more creative ideas to prevent another round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from taking place in its own country. Otherwise, a country where peace prevails may become Middle Eastern in a short time.

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[1] Gelvin, James L. (2021). The Israel-Palestine Conflict: A History (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 6.

[2] Global Affairs Canada (2011). Canadian Policy on Key Issues in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180218143423/http://www.international.gc.ca/name-anmo/peace_process-processus_paix/canadian_policy-politique_canadienne.aspx?lang=eng on 03 June 2024

[3] World Bank Technical Team (2007). “Movement and Access Restrictions in the West Bank: Uncertainty and Inefficiency in the Palestinian Economy”. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20100410135638/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/WestBankrestrictions9Mayfinal.pdf on 03 June 2024

[4] Smith, C. (2013). The Arab-Israeli Conflict. International relations of the Middle East, 245-267

[5] Mehvar, Ameneh (2023). “Fact Sheet: Israel and Palestine Conflict” ACLED. Retrieved from https://acleddata.com/2023/10/10/fact-sheet-israel-and-palestine-conflict/ on 03 June 2024

[6] Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2024). “Occupied Palestinian Territories”. Retrieved from https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/occupied-palestinian-territories#:~:text=Australia%20does%20not%20recognise%20a,security%2C%20within%20internationally%20recognised%20borders. on 05 June 2024.

[7] Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2024). “Israel country brief:

Overview”. Retrieved from https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/israel/israel-country-brief#:~:text=Australia%20and%20Israel%20share%20a,both%20opened%20in%20that%20year. on 05 June 2024.

[8] Norwich University Resource Library (2024). “Key Theories of International Relations” retrieved from https://online.norwich.edu/online/about/resource-library/key-theories-international-relations on on 05 June 2024.

[9] Fels, Enrico (2017). Shifting Power in Asia-Pacific? The Rise of China, Sino-US Competition and Regional Middle Power Allegiance. Springer. p. 365. ISBN 978-3-319-45689-8.

[10] Muzinga, L. M., & Awolusi, O. D. (2019). Strategic leadership in post-conflict states: A study of The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Journal of Social and Development Sciences, 10(4 (S)), 36-51.

[11] Held, D., & McGrew, A. (1998). “The end of the old order?” Review of International Studies, 24, 219-242.

[12] Ponomarenko, A.P; Taraduda, D.; Leonenko, N. & Poroka, S. (2024). “Ensuring the Safety of Citizens in Times of War: Aspects of the Organızation of Civil Defense”. Journal of Interdisciplinary Research 14(1):216-220. DOI:10.33543/140139216220

[13] Australian Human Rights Commission (2003). Ismae Report: National consultations on eliminating prejudice against Arab and Muslim Australians: Appendices”. Retrieved from https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/racial_discrimination/isma/report/pdf/appendices.pdf on 05 June 2024.

[14] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). “2016 Census” retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/2016 on 05 June 2024.