Penny Wong is slammed by Jewish leaders over a controversial decision - as the Foreign Minister takes off on high-stakes diplomatic trip to Israel

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A Jewish MP has attacked Penny Wong and described her as ‘one of the worst Foreign Ministers we’ve ever had’ amid revelations she will not visit the Israeli towns targeted by Hamas during her diplomatic trip to the Middle East.

Senator Wong is Australia’s most trusted politician according to polling conducted at the end of 2023, and was also considered the most effective minister in the Albanese cabinet.

Ms Wong is travelling to Israel, Jordan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as the United Arab Emirates this week and will meet with Israeli families of hostages and survivors of the October 7 attacks.

She will also meet with Palestinians impacted by Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.

But the minister will not visit the sites of the Hamas massacres as other politicians from around the world have done in recent months.

David Southwick, the Jewish deputy leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, asked on X ‘what kind of message does that send to the world?’

Senator Wong is travelling to Israel , Jordan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as the United Arab Emirates, this week and will meet with Israeli families of hostages and survivors of the October 7 attacks

‘Penny Wong must be one of the worst Foreign Ministers we’ve ever had. Why go to Israel if you aren’t willing to tour the southern Israeli towns where the October 7 massacres occurred?’

Senator Wong is also facing backlash from the Australian Jewish Association and president David Adler.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Dr Adler said: ‘Frankly, this is an insult to Israel, to the victims of the terrorism including those still hostage and to the Australian Jewish community.

‘It would have been preferable for FM Wong not to go than to behave like this.’

‘The Hamas terror attack and subsequent war has been the dominant international issue for the last three months. The refusal of our foreign minister to visit the place where it began and gain a better first-hand understanding is a clear dereliction of duty.’

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler also said he and his community were ‘disappointed’ by the decision.

‘A visit to Ground Zero of the worst anti-Semitic attack since the Holocaust would have been an important show of solidarity with Israel and Jewish Australians,’ he said.

Ms Wong was directly asked why she wasn’t going to the site of the massacre on Monday. She responded: ‘I will be meeting with survivors of that attack, as well as families of hostages, and that will be important.’

Sunday marked 100 days since terror group Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took another 240 hostage.

Israel has since bombarded Gaza with air strikes which local authorities say have killed more than 23,000 people and displaced 1.9 million – 85 per cent of the strip’s population.

Senator Wong’s trip comes just days after Australia supported the US and UK’s bombing of Houthi rebel controlled territory in Yemen following the Iran-backed group’s attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

David Southwick, the Jewish deputy leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, asked on X ‘what kind of message does that send to the world?’

Sunday marked 100 days since terror group Hamas killed 1200 Israelis and took another 240 hostage

The rebels have launched assaults in the trade route in response to Israel’s strikes on Gaza.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected a suggestion that Australia’s support for the joint action against the Houthis had been inadequate.

‘We’re making an appropriate contribution as Australia always does,’ he told ABC’s RN.

‘We always play our role and it is appropriate that we have people there in Bahrain, we had people before the Houthi attacks.

‘Since then we’ve increased the number of personnel that are involved in that operation.’

Senator Wong will meet with her regional counterparts to discuss preventing the spread of conflict and the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

‘Israel must respect international humanitarian law and conduct military operations lawfully. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected,’ she said.

‘I will express our profound concern that there are increasingly few safe places for Gazans.

‘I will reiterate our call for safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access so that food, water, fuel, medicine and essential assistance to reach people in desperate need, and so civilians can get to safety.

‘Australia wants to see steps towards a sustainable ceasefire.’

But Senator Wong said a ceasefire could never be ‘one-sided’.

‘It is our view that Gaza must no longer be used as a platform for terrorism and that Hamas must lay down its arms,’ she said.

‘We are committed to working with partners toward a just and enduring peace in the form of a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians can live securely within internationally recognised borders.’

The government said the visit to Israel – the first by a foreign minister since 2016 – built on Senator Wong’s extensive diplomatic efforts since the crisis began.

Israel has since bombarded Gaza with air strikes which local authorities say have killed more than 23,000 people and displaced 1.9 million – 85 per cent of the strip’s population – sparking demonstrations around the world