August 11, 2025 • 6 mins
Dr Keith Suter joins Jonesy & Amanda to chat about Australia recognising the state of Palestine, and what it means.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
J Jersey and Amanda gem Nation.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Well, surprising many, yesterday the Prime Minister has announced that
Australia will recognize the state of Palestine, contributing to an
international move towards a two state solution, a cease foreign
gaza and release of the hostages. It is a lot
to wrap our heads around. And what does it mean
for our international relations? Was this led by so many
protesters recently? What does it all mean? Well, let's chat
(00:23):
to foreign affairs expert doctor Keith Suter.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Keith, Hello, yes, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well was this a surprise? It seems that just a
few weeks ago Anthony Alberonezi was saying this wasn't on
the cards.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well, it was a question really of when it was
going to be done, rather than if, So we knew
that it was going to It was in the wind
because you can see that Australia's other allies like Canada
and the United Kingdom France were moving in that direction.
So Australia has decided to join that bandwagon. Three quarters
(00:55):
of the world already recognized Palestine, so Australia and a
few other countries are bringing up the rear. And this
is just a gesture from our point of view, though, well,
Australia is not a major player in the Middle East,
but it does add to the momentum, I guess for
the recognition of Palestine. But if you're really concerned about
(01:18):
the suffering that's going on this very day, it's not
going to make much of a difference at all.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
We've broken with the United States and obviously with Israel
in doing this. Is this a sign of the new
world order that we're no longer so concerned about what
America thinks?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, I think America is no longer worried about what
the rest of the world thinks, and so they're withdrawing
from a lot of their international commitments. I think the
big thing for America and Australia is China. So although
America might be annoyed temporarily with what Australia has done
over Palestine, the long term game that America is playing
(01:59):
is how you manage to restrain China. And if you're
going to restrain China, you've got to have Australia on side.
So we also matter to America in its long term
struggle with China. So I think that Trump might be
annoyed for about five minutes. Remember he has the concentration
span of a flea, and then he'll move on to
(02:20):
some other issues. So I don't think it'll be long
term dangerous consequences for our relationship with the United States,
and our recognition of Palestine comes with a caveat, meaning
that HAMAS is no longer running the joint Is that true?
That's true. So HUMAS controls one part of the Palestinian entity,
(02:42):
which is on the Gaza Strip, and there's another Palestinian
organization that controls the West Bank, which is a much
larger area. And so what countries are saying, including the
Arab League. The Arab League is twenty two countries formed
after World War Two who could never agree on anything,
and yet in the last few days they've all come
(03:04):
together to agree that Hamas should not be part of
any sort of long term settlement in the Middle East.
So we're getting an international opposition to Harmas that's been
building up.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
What impact will this have on Israel's decisions in the
next few weeks.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
I don't think if I had much at all. Prime
Minister Netane, who has expressed his anger at what Australia
has been doing along with France, UK, etc. But he's
got his own long term agenda for trying to reoccupy Gaza.
This is very controversial even within Israel itself. There are
(03:45):
a lot of people who have worries about trying to
reoccupy all of Gaza, and that also includes his own
defense force. The head of his defense force has actually
come out and oppose the Prime Minister, which is bizarre.
So you've got worries in the defense Force, former intelligence
agencies and a lot of ordinary Israelians were saying, we
(04:06):
don't want to go back into that mess. Keep it,
we don't want to go back to reoccupying Gaza. So
Prime Medicine Leno, who's got one of the most difficult
jobs in the world, has got right wing members in
his cabinet keeping him in power, and they're the ones
who are saying we've got to reoccupied Gaza. Meanwhile, many
of his own citizens are saying, no, we don't agree
(04:28):
with that with.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
This recent decision. What role do you think that the
recent protests have had and the people power we've seen.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I think that the protests, particularly the one that took
place in Sydney over the Harbor Bridge, has taken everybody
by surprise. It was dreadful weather, the rain was bucketing down,
and yet you had that record number of people attending
the rally. And I think that that would send a
clear message to the politicians that this is an issue
which has really touched people's hearts. I've been talking on
(04:59):
the Middle East now for half a century. I have
never yet before noticed how much sympathy there is now
for the Palestinian cause. There's been a real sea change
in opinion. Previously, people would have been very sympathetic towards Israel.
That's the environment in which I grew up in, you know,
brave little Israel, sort of taking on all the Arab countries, etc.
(05:21):
Now Israel is seen as an aggressor country, punishing poor Palestinians.
So there's been a huge sea change in public opinion,
and I think our politicians belatedly have come to realize
that there has been this change. And so, as you know,
with a politician, they always have to find the crowd
and they'd run in front of it. And that's exactly
what the Prime Minister has done. Well happened. If they
(05:44):
can sort it out, that'd be great. If I could
sort it out at the end of the year, we'd be.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Happy with that, and of the week it'd be great.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Look, I'm very pessimistic about the Middle East. You've got
too many people making too many claims on too little land,
so I think it's going to be very difficult to
have any long term peace settlement there. Well, doctor Keith Souda,
thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, it's always a pleasure to talk to you. Thank
you very much.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Thank you
J Jersey and Amanda gem Nation.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Well, surprising many, yesterday the Prime Minister has announced that
Australia will recognize the state of Palestine, contributing to an
international move towards a two state solution, a cease foreign
gaza and release of the hostages. It is a lot
to wrap our heads around. And what does it mean
for our international relations? Was this led by so many
protesters recently? What does it all mean? Well, let's chat
(00:23):
to foreign affairs expert doctor Keith Suter.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Keith, Hello, yes, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well was this a surprise? It seems that just a
few weeks ago Anthony Alberonezi was saying this wasn't on
the cards.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well, it was a question really of when it was
going to be done, rather than if, So we knew
that it was going to It was in the wind
because you can see that Australia's other allies like Canada
and the United Kingdom France were moving in that direction.
So Australia has decided to join that bandwagon. Three quarters
(00:55):
of the world already recognized Palestine, so Australia and a
few other countries are bringing up the rear. And this
is just a gesture from our point of view, though, well,
Australia is not a major player in the Middle East,
but it does add to the momentum, I guess for
the recognition of Palestine. But if you're really concerned about
(01:18):
the suffering that's going on this very day, it's not
going to make much of a difference at all.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
We've broken with the United States and obviously with Israel
in doing this. Is this a sign of the new
world order that we're no longer so concerned about what
America thinks?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, I think America is no longer worried about what
the rest of the world thinks, and so they're withdrawing
from a lot of their international commitments. I think the
big thing for America and Australia is China. So although
America might be annoyed temporarily with what Australia has done
over Palestine, the long term game that America is playing
(01:59):
is how you manage to restrain China. And if you're
going to restrain China, you've got to have Australia on side.
So we also matter to America in its long term
struggle with China. So I think that Trump might be
annoyed for about five minutes. Remember he has the concentration
span of a flea, and then he'll move on to
(02:20):
some other issues. So I don't think it'll be long
term dangerous consequences for our relationship with the United States,
and our recognition of Palestine comes with a caveat, meaning
that HAMAS is no longer running the joint Is that true?
That's true. So HUMAS controls one part of the Palestinian entity,
(02:42):
which is on the Gaza Strip, and there's another Palestinian
organization that controls the West Bank, which is a much
larger area. And so what countries are saying, including the
Arab League. The Arab League is twenty two countries formed
after World War Two who could never agree on anything,
and yet in the last few days they've all come
(03:04):
together to agree that Hamas should not be part of
any sort of long term settlement in the Middle East.
So we're getting an international opposition to Harmas that's been
building up.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
What impact will this have on Israel's decisions in the
next few weeks.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
I don't think if I had much at all. Prime
Minister Netane, who has expressed his anger at what Australia
has been doing along with France, UK, etc. But he's
got his own long term agenda for trying to reoccupy Gaza.
This is very controversial even within Israel itself. There are
(03:45):
a lot of people who have worries about trying to
reoccupy all of Gaza, and that also includes his own
defense force. The head of his defense force has actually
come out and oppose the Prime Minister, which is bizarre.
So you've got worries in the defense Force, former intelligence
agencies and a lot of ordinary Israelians were saying, we
(04:06):
don't want to go back into that mess. Keep it,
we don't want to go back to reoccupying Gaza. So
Prime Medicine Leno, who's got one of the most difficult
jobs in the world, has got right wing members in
his cabinet keeping him in power, and they're the ones
who are saying we've got to reoccupied Gaza. Meanwhile, many
of his own citizens are saying, no, we don't agree
(04:28):
with that with.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
This recent decision. What role do you think that the
recent protests have had and the people power we've seen.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I think that the protests, particularly the one that took
place in Sydney over the Harbor Bridge, has taken everybody
by surprise. It was dreadful weather, the rain was bucketing down,
and yet you had that record number of people attending
the rally. And I think that that would send a
clear message to the politicians that this is an issue
which has really touched people's hearts. I've been talking on
(04:59):
the Middle East now for half a century. I have
never yet before noticed how much sympathy there is now
for the Palestinian cause. There's been a real sea change
in opinion. Previously, people would have been very sympathetic towards Israel.
That's the environment in which I grew up in, you know,
brave little Israel, sort of taking on all the Arab countries, etc.
(05:21):
Now Israel is seen as an aggressor country, punishing poor Palestinians.
So there's been a huge sea change in public opinion,
and I think our politicians belatedly have come to realize
that there has been this change. And so, as you know,
with a politician, they always have to find the crowd
and they'd run in front of it. And that's exactly
what the Prime Minister has done. Well happened. If they
(05:44):
can sort it out, that'd be great. If I could
sort it out at the end of the year, we'd be.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Happy with that, and of the week it'd be great.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Look, I'm very pessimistic about the Middle East. You've got
too many people making too many claims on too little land,
so I think it's going to be very difficult to
have any long term peace settlement there. Well, doctor Keith Souda,
thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, it's always a pleasure to talk to you. Thank
you very much.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Thank you
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