Former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has suggested Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s dogged support of Israel was due to the subcontracting of Australian foreign policy to Jewish donors, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. In his upcoming book Diary of a Foreign Minister, Carr claims the extreme right-wing pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne wielded extraordinary influence on Gillard. The book includes private text messages between the two – published without Gillards consent – which detail the pairs disagreement on Australias support (or lack thereof) for the November 2012 United Nations vote concerning Palestinian observer status. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to promote his new book, Carr claimed the pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne wielded extraordinary influence on Gillard and her office, negatively interfering with Australian foreign policy. I found it very frustrating that we couldnt issue, for example, a routine expression of concern about the spread of Israeli settlements on the West Bank - great blocks of housing for Israeli citizens going up on land that everyone regards as part of the future Palestinian state if there is to be a two-state solution.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 05:08:33 +0000
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