Bob Hawke: Obama 'inadequate' in resolving Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke has criticised Barack Obama’s presidency as “inadequate” for not using his influence to bring together Israel and the Palestinians and has called for China to engage on the issue and “change the chemistry” of the Middle East.

Asked about the current situation in the Middle East and the terrorist threat posed by Islamic State and others, Hawke said the key to any progress was resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I believe that until the basic issue between Israel and the Palestinians is resolved, there’s never going to have any hope of any decent situation there,” Hawke said.“I think that President Obama has been inadequate in terms of using his influence and that of the United States in trying to bring together the Israelis and Palestinians.”

Hawke was speaking at a briefing for the release of thousands of cabinet documents from 1990-91 by the National Archives of Australia. The documents show a divided cabinet in Labor’s fourth term, on issues such as uranium mining at Coronation Hill in Kakadu, the treatment of asylum seekers and the leadership struggle between Hawke and his treasurer Paul Keating.

Hawke, who was prime minister from 1983 to 1991, said he supported Australia’s involvement in the current action against Isis, though he reminded the briefing he had predicted the second Gulf war would lead to increased support for Islamic terrorists such as Osama bin Laden.

“I believe it is appropriate that we should be part, whether we should be such a prominent part is a matter for debate, but we should definitely be part of the alliance fighting against IS there in the Middle East,” he said.

Hawke said China had shown an increasing interest in the Middle East in recent years with the country hosting both the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.

“If China and the US were to sit down together and agree on a process of trying to secure a resolution, the whole chemistry of the situation would change because the simple fact is the Palestinians and the Arab states simply do not trust America.

“They see them as a shield and protector of Israel. If you had the Chinese and Americans working together I think the chemistry would change.”