Manufacturing A Modern Blood Libel

Highly recommended read – a detailed account of the tactics used to dehumanize Israel.

“Before Israel had a chance to count its dead, Western officials and activists across campuses and in city streets were calling for a ceasefire. Within a week, Israel stood accused of genocide. The timing and extent of accusations of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and starvation demonstrate that the charges were driven by a predetermined and highly orchestrated political campaign rather than on the ground evidence. A factual assessment renders those charges false, proven by key findings in this report by the Embassy of Israel Washington D.C. May 2026.”

embassies.gov.il/usa/en/news/https-govextragovil-foreign-affairs-justthefactsjune19-home

The conditions for statehood still matter

Extract from ZFA newsletter

ZFA President Jeremy Leibler makes the case in the Australian Financial Review for why Labor must not water down the conditions attached to Palestinian statehood.

afr.com/politics/federal/labor-should-not-dilute-conditions-for-palestinian-statehood-20260720-p60gxb (subscribers only, summary below)

Labor should not dilute conditions for Palestinian statehood

Less than a year ago, Australia recognised a Palestinian state. In this week’s AFR op-ed, ZFA President Jeremy Leibler writes that the decision was justified only by reference to specific Palestinian Authority commitments: democratic elections, reform of governance and education, an end to payments to the families of prisoners and martyrs, demilitarisation, recognition of Israel’s right to exist, and no role for Hamas.

ZFA opposed recognition at the time, believing the sequencing was wrong. It came while Hamas still controlled Gaza, hostages remained in captivity, and before the institutions needed to sustain a peaceful state existed.

That decision has been made. The question now, Jeremy writes, is whether those commitments will be treated as genuine requirements, or gradually reduced to diplomatic rhetoric, particularly given they are notably absent from Labor’s draft national conference platform.

“A viable Palestinian state cannot be created by recognition alone.”
Jeremy Leibler, ZFA President

Jeremy traces the conditions back to the hard lessons learned since Oslo. The requirements for accountable institutions, free and fair elections, freedom of expression, education for peace, and an end to incentives that reward terrorism exist for Palestinians’ benefit as much as Israel’s.

“The years since Oslo have shown that peace cannot be built from the top down while the institutions beneath remain authoritarian, unaccountable and hostile to coexistence.”

The newly released draft Palestinian constitution shows why this scrutiny still matters. It obliges the state to support the families of “martyrs” and prisoners, protects Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites with no equivalent reference to Jewish sites, and an independent audit found a further “martyr” payment had been made after the fund was supposedly closed.

“October 7 demonstrated in the most devastating way what happens when a generation is raised on incitement rather than coexistence.”

Jeremy is careful to say Israel is not above criticism, but argues Labor’s platform holds Israel to extensive, specific obligations while reducing Palestinian leadership’s responsibilities to generalities, a double standard he says Labor, with a clear parliamentary mandate, has the confidence to correct.

“Recognition was the diplomatic act. The harder work now is building the institutions and culture required for lasting peace.”

Recommended podcast by Colonel The Honourable Dr. Mike Kelly AM (retd)

Adjacent Professor, National Security Institute, University of Canberra

You can find material related to National security, antisemitism, the war in the Middle East, Israel and more. This is an appealing program for all those looking to be better informed on world events.

Click here: www.youtube.com/@Dr.MikeKelly

Shabat Shalom

Ayal Marek
President
ARZA Australia