Wong says Australia will keep pressing for Frankcom justice
Israel’s ambassador to Australia said on the eve of October 7 commemorations that he had come to Canberra with “a lot of goodwill” to repair the relationship between the two countries, telling Guardian Australia the moment presented an opportunity to “reset” what he described as a previously “traditional friendship.”
“We have challenges, but I have come with a lot of goodwill in order to try and make a positive change in the relationship, perhaps even reset the relationship and return both sides to the initial historical traditional friendship,” Newman said. “There have been issues between our two countries. We can have differences of opinion, but we should not allow differences of opinion to overshadow and overcrowd the overall relationship. We can understand if Australia has criticism of this issue or another.”
Newman’s comments came despite Israel’s foreign ministry publicly criticising Wong on social media in recent weeks, branding comments she made to the United Nations about settler violence in the West Bank a “blatant lie.” Israel had earlier intervened in Australian domestic politics, urging the Labor Party to soften draft platform language that condemned settler violence and a controversial death penalty law.
Relations between Israel and Australia’s federal Labor have moved toward what the source describes as a “near breakdown” since the October 7, 2023 attack, in which Hamas militants killed about 1,200 Israelis and took 250 people hostage. Israel’s response and bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, the source reports.
Australia has taken an increasingly firm stance against Israel alongside other Western nations, joining the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand in sanctioning Israeli politicians Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, whom the governments accused of inciting violence against Palestinians. However, the federal government last month stopped short of joining the UK and other partners in imposing a ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The anniversary falls amid an unresolved dispute over the death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, who was killed in April 2024 when Israeli drones struck a humanitarian convoy. The Israel Defense Forces decided in August not to pursue criminal proceedings over Frankcom’s death, a decision Albanese and Wong publicly criticised. Asked about Israel’s failure to release audio from the strike, Newman said the matter rested with the Israeli military but that his country remained open to any request for potential reparations for the Frankcom family and remained in favour of continued discussions.
Wong said in a statement that the Australian government had condemned the IDF’s decision not to pursue criminal proceedings against those responsible for killing Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues. “The Australian government will not stop pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues,” Wong said. “We continue to engage closely with the Frankcom family on further action.” Wong added that “7 October is a day of profound grief and remembrance,” and said the country mourned those killed in the Hamas attacks, including Australian Galit Carbone, “and all those who have suffered from antisemitic violence around the world.”
Leaders of Australia’s Palestinian community said the federal government should do more to address the suffering of the diaspora since the war in Gaza. Nasser Mashni, president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, said the impact of three years of war was measured “in two places at once: Gaza and in the diaspora.” “In Australia, the impact is a quieter but a relentless erosion of our place in this country,” Mashni said, describing “a nagging suggestion that we don’t belong, that we must prove we are Australian, and even human.” He characterised the situation as “the domestic footprint of genocide: protesting a demand for its end, and stopping Australia’s complicity in it, is more controversial than supporting it.”
In 2025, a UN commission found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, citing tens of thousands of civilian deaths and massive destruction; Israel strongly denies accusations of genocide.
Greens leader David Shoebridge said Australians would reflect on the toll of violence in the days ahead. “The attacks on October 7 were condemned by the Greens at the time, as our party has a deep belief in peace and non-violence,” Shoebridge said. “It is that same core value that means we condemn the ongoing genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.”
The cooler Israel-Australia relationship coincides with rising antisemitic attacks in Australia, as the country approaches the first anniversary of the Bondi massacre on December 14. Fifteen people were killed when a father-son duo opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration. A royal commission established in response is due to release its final report on December 18.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the October 7 attack and the “unsatisfactory responses” to it meant “troubled, uncertain times lie ahead for us all.” He added: “But if the jihadists thought mass terror at home and abroad would bring about some global capitulation by Israel and Jewish communities or that the majority of Australians would turn on their Jewish friends and neighbours, they have failed dismally.”
Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson said the October 7 attack had changed Australia in “terrible ways” and culminated in the Bondi attack. “Fixing this societal cancer will take years of sustained effort from the entire community, from the prime minister down,” Paterson said.