Of course your question is valid - "Is Israel being supported/supplied by the USA"? Who else is supported/supplied by the USA? Australia? We have US troops stationed in our country!

We can argue this all day, but it still goes back to the original question:

Are Hamas & other militants in the region being supported/supplied by Iran?

All other questions/comments simply lurch back & forth whereas this question shows where the militants intent truly lies!

Are these groups genuine political members of the international community...or...?

Julie Bishop and those who support her thesis have no concept of what peace in the Middle East might look like.

It certainly will not resemble the present imbalance between:
- an armed Israel whose citizens are supported militarily while they steal land from their neighbours and
- a group of impoverished nations and semi-nations which are denied even the chance to control trade across their own borders, or to provide the necessities of civilisation such as safe water, power and hospitals, free from the threat that their powerful neighbour will, without warning or justification, demolish them as soon as tommorrow.

It would serve the Coalition better to have no foreign policy at all and no spokesperson if this is indicative of the best that they can produce.

I found myself becoming very angry reading the biased, silly piece by Julie Bishop. Then I remembered that this was the same lady who accused her own country Australia of forging passports in an effort to excuse the Israelis of tampering with Australian passports during one of their extra-judicial killings.

The thought of this woman being in a position of power in an Australian Government is frightening.

This ad hominem will have to suffice as I do not have the patience to refute with evidence almost everything she has said. Does she really believe this stuff?

Unfortunately, Stan1, she does believe it and so does the opposite side of politics.

Australian politicians are among the most ignorant in the world and are only eclipsed by the Yanks. Why Australia has become a sycophant of the U.S. even the Gods can't understand.

It's as though Coca Cola and MacDonalds contains mind-destroying toxins which turns those who consume it into the brain-dead.

Julie Bishop's article is pure, unadulterated Israeli propaganda and was probably written by Crazy Benny or Avital or the obnoxious Mark Regev.

The bottom line is that Israel has put a whole people under brutal occupation since 1948 and has stolen most of their land while most of the world has pretended nothing happened.

The Palestinians have the right to fight against their 'poor widdle' occupiers who are without compassion or conscience much like their enabler, the U.S.

I admire the bravery of the Palestinians who, in spite of being defenceless, fight on for their freedom!

Dear Julie

My first feelings were that as usual you have nothing new or insightful to say. Mostly simplistic guff, crafted to beguile. But the bias and lack of integrity in your portrayal of the situation got me thinking that perhaps you might be conspiring with the Israeli lobby to groom the populace into cheering squads for the Israelis.

Can you assure us that you are not just carrying out your role as a sleeper in our Parliament, having been seduced by the Israelis in one way or another just like that daughter of your esteemed colleague a few Christmases ago?

Chek

Darryl of Perth says "the real question is whether or not Hamas is being supplied by Iran".
Why is this such an important question? You obviously don't think the source of Israeli weapons is important. Why is the source of Palestinian weapons so relevant?
I suspect that Iran is not supplying weapons because if they were, the Palestinians would have the means to defend themselves, rather than firing homemade rockets. If Iran or anyone else were to supply Hamas with credible anti aircraft weapons and credible anti tank weapons then there would not be any conflict. The only reason that Israel is so keen to wage war on the Palestinians is because they are essentially defenceless. If they were at risk of losing a few helicopter gunships or high tech aircraft, they would probably think twice.