According to former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, it is “obvious” why his country made the decision to oust the Mossad representative, explaining “the reason why Australia has suddenly become so aggressive over it is related to the Security Council campaign. In an effort to try to beat Finland and Luxemburg, the Australian Government is going out of its way to ingratiate itself to other countries in the Middle East and build up its credentials”.

He wisely pointed out that Israel is not the only country which carries out such actions, questioning why the government has decided to suddenly make an example of Israel. Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop told Sky News that at present, there is no proof that Israel was behind the Dubai assassination of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, calling the decision inappropriate.

It appears the move is directly related to upcoming elections in Australia, with the ruling party and liberal opposition party using the issue to earn votes.

Greg Sheridan, an editor of the Australian Magazine also called the move a mistake in his column. Citing Britain’s lead example, expelling the Mossad representative to the UK, Sheridan stated “Australia should not ape its former masters in London in this but embrace some of the sophistication of Berlin or Paris, neither, incidentally, regarded as hives of unreasonable pro-Israel bias.”

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)