In what can only be described as a whitewash, as expected the Israeli Defence Force has decided not to pursue criminal charges against its soldiers involved in the 2024 drone strike that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six of her colleagues in Gaza. Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman was called into Parliament House by foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong and told that this decision was unacceptable to Australia. Newman refused to apologise, and as usual went on the defensive with rhetoric about “There are a lot of haters of Israel in Australia,”. Unfortunately this blatant act of a murderous war crime by Israeli soldiers of an innocent Australian citizen, followed by a whitewash, can only fuel that "hatred" Mr Newman likes to refer to.

In my opinion the Israeli ambassador should be expelled from Australia, and the Australian ambassador to Israel should be recalled.

In 2024, the current Australian government commissioned an 'independent' report and assessment into the deaths of the aid workers. The report reached the conclusion that the deaths were caused by "serious failures to follow procedures, mistaken identification and errors in decision-making" on BOTH sides.

In particular the report found that the aid organisation was using armed guards which was never flagged with the IDF and which was against the agreement reached between them and the IDF. The IDF believed the guards were Hamas and nothing was done to disabuse them of that view. Additionally the aid convoy deviated from agreed routes and travelled at times that hadn't been agreed to or even flagged to the IDF.

The result was the finding that the incident was characterised "as a grave mistake involving serious procedural failures on both sides and a breakdown in situational awareness, and found it was not knowingly or deliberately directed at the aid workers." These findings support the Israeli position that the drone strike "involved no criminal intention or misconduct, so no criminal investigation or charges are warranted."

But now that the politics have changed, the government is ignoring its own findings and virtue-signalling to its anti-Israel constituency. Conducting international diplomacy in the service of local politics is never good look nor in the national interest.

Gaza is/was a war zone. Mistakes happen in war zones. The notion that these aid workers could operate in a highly charged war zone with the expectation of being perfectly safe was/is flawed.

The IDF made mistakes. Central Kitchens made mistakes. But only one side is being critiqued. I wonder why?