A world first: Australia will now investigate Israel

The Australian Government has committed to launching an independent investigation into the attacks, sexual assaults and torture of Gaza Flotilla aid workers. Andrew Brown reports.

This is the biggest story most Australians have yet to grasp.

Australians who have been subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse by Israeli officials, were met today in Canberra by Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Dr. He met with Anne Aly MP and a senior DFAT official.

As a result, the Australian Government has committed to launching an independent investigation into the attacks, sexual assaults and torture of Gaza Flotilla aid workers.

Read again. It is not an intra-Israeli review. It is not a department that prepares briefing notes. He is not a politician voicing his concerns.

An independent Australian investigation

With AFP at the table, the behavior of military and prison personnel of one of this country’s closest allies was addressed.

This is not normal. There is no comparable moment in the modern history of the relationship. A Western democracy, a trusted friend of Israel, is determined to formally investigate the state of Israel for what that democracy has done to its citizens. This hasn’t happened before. Anywhere.

Eleven Australians

Australians were among humanitarian volunteers detained by Israel after trying to distribute food, medicine and aid to starving civilians in Gaza. Of those, 11 came home with allegations of physical abuse, assault and, in some cases, sexual assault.

And the investigation did not happen by chance. This was because a handful of Australians would not allow him to be buried.

Juliet Lamont and Neve O’Connor came home wounded and traumatized, and instead of returning to private treatment, they ripped the door of the national conversation off its hinges. They put their names on the affidavit. They reviewed the Senate estimates.They took the case to the International Criminal Court.

And when their own prime minister refused to meet with them, Lamont’s response was devastating in its simplicity. If the voices of Australian survivors can be heard in The Hague but not in Canberra, something has gone terribly wrong.

These were heard today.

“We came here to seek justice for the survivors of Israel’s mistreatment of Australian citizens,” Lamont said in a statement after the meeting. “Today we launched an investigation in Australia. Believing survivors is the first step. Investigation is the second step. Justice is the third step. There must be consequences for Israel’s brutality.”

O’Connor placed the risks in an appropriate, global framework. “What happened to us is what the Palestinians have been warning the world about for decades. The same methods, the same perpetrators, the same chain of command. This investigation is important not just because Australians were harmed. It is important because it reveals the nature of the responsible state.”

This is the heart of the matter. That’s why this is so much bigger than eleven Australians and a squadron.

Israeli soldiers raped her. Australian customs threatened him

Will Israel cooperate?

For a reliable investigation, operational footage, body camera footage, communication records, custody records, medical records and witness statements will be needed. Material that can detect exactly what happened. This is where Israel gets stuck. There are only two paths, and both are devastating.

He can cooperate. Turn over footage, open records, extract records, name personnel. If the narrative is true, this material completely exonerates him. A government that is confident in its own behavior does not hide evidence. He is in a hurry to produce it.

Or he may refuse. And if he refuses, every Australian has the right to ask a question. From where? Why would a state that insists it did nothing wrong withhold the only thing that could prove it? There is only one honest answer and Israel knows it. You don’t bury evidence that proves you right.

You bury the evidence that convicts you.

This is ingrained behavior. When the United Nations investigated the 2010 Mavi Marmara raid, Israel did not allow its soldiers to be questioned and instead conducted its own investigation. The pattern is decades old. Deny everything, investigate nothing independently, wait for the world to lose interest.

Israel denied

The Israeli ambassador maintains that participants were treated appropriately. The prison service issued a firm denial. But national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir released footage of detained activists being handcuffed and forced to squat, with guards waving Israeli flags in their faces, and said he was proud of it. Let the evidence speak. A state with nothing to hide would be sending files to Canberra anyway.

What makes this explosive is who is asking the questions. Australia is not Iran, it is not South Africa, it is not one of Israel’s usual critics. He remained one of Israel’s most trusted friends for decades. When a loyal friend opens a file on you, the findings carry a weight no critic could ever carry.

We remember Zomi Frankcom

Australians remember Zomi Frankcom. When the aid worker was killed in Gaza, the government agreed to an internal review by Israel that should have demanded answers. This impression did not disappear. This time the government committed to something different,

and will be faithful to it.

Penny Wong told the Senate she believed the women and their treatment was appalling and unacceptable. Today he went further and committed his government to action. The question is no longer whether the allegations are credible. This is what Australia has done with its findings.

Sanctions. Travel bans. And the bluntest instrument. Australia could expel the Israeli ambassador and declare the officials involved persona non grata and put them on planes. A few years ago this idea was a fantasy. This is now a live question and Israel’s walls are getting sharper every day.

Australia broke the rankings

Understand what’s really at stake. For decades, Israel has operated with the ingrained expectation that it will answer to no one, guaranteed by the certainty that its Western friends will always look away.

This presumption is currently being tried in Canberra. Once a trusted ally follows the evidence wherever it leads, the spell is broken and other capitals discover they can ask the question, too. That’s why the world is watching a story that begins with a few small boats.

Eleven Australians have names. Neve O’Connor, Juliet Lamont, Zack Schofield, Surya McEwen, Sam Woripa Watson, Anny Mokotow, Bianca Pullman Webb, Ethan Floyd, Violet Coco, Gemma O’Toole and Helen O’Sullivan. They’re not going anywhere.

The period of impunity was based on a single belief. No friend can break ranks. A friend just did it.

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