<\/p>\n
In an article titled \u201cDetails of defence deal with Israel kept under wraps to protect Australia\u2019s \u2018reputation<\/a><\/span>\u2019,\u201d the ABC\u2019s Andrew Greene details how the Australian military snubbed a Freedom of Information request by the Australian Greens regarding a \u201cMemorandum of Understanding\u201d between Australia and Israel that was signed in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe document within the scope of this request contains information which, if released, could reasonably be expected to damage the international relations of the Commonwealth,\u201d the Defence Department said in a letter explaining its rejection.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cA summary provided by the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to the Greens reveals that the Israeli government was also consulted about releasing the document before Defence ultimately rejected the FOI request,\u201d the ABC reports.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe document contains information communicated to Australia by a foreign government and its officials under the expectation that it would not be disclosed,\u201d a Defence official wrote in justification of its decision.<\/span><\/p>\n Greens senator David Shoebridge objected, saying \u201cThere is no place for secret arms treaties and secret arms deals between countries, and there is certainly no place for giving other countries veto power over what the Australian government tells the public about our government\u2019s defence and arms deals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOver 30,000 people have been killed by the State of Israel in Gaza in the past six months. In this context, the Australian public has a right to know about the military trade relationship with the State of Israel,\u201d added Shoebridge.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s wild to think about the fact that the Australian warmakers determined this admission, that the truth would harm Australia\u2019s reputation, to be the option that was least<\/strong><\/em> destructive to Australia\u2019s reputation. When someone tells you \u201cI can\u2019t tell you the truth about that because the truth will make everyone dislike me,\u201d it means they\u2019ve ruled out every other option before coming to that position because the truth really is that ugly.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s like coming home to find your husband frantically burning clothes and mopping up blood and asking him what\u2019s going on, and he says \u201cI can\u2019t tell you because the truth would harm your opinion of me.\u201d Your very first thought after that is going to be that he must have done something very, very bad if that\u2019s the best answer he could give you.<\/span><\/p>\n Back in November lawyer and researcher Kelly Trantner published an article with Declassified Australia titled \u201cAustralia\u2019s role in the bombing of Gaza<\/span><\/a>\u201d about Israel\u2019s use of Australian equipment to conduct its F-35 bombing campaigns, writing that \u201cno bombs could be dropped on Gaza by an F-35 without parts manufactured for the F-35s by Melbourne company, Rosebank Engineering.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Trantner notes that more than 70 Australian companies<\/span><\/a> have been awarded \u201cover $4.13 billion in global production and sustainment contracts through the F-35 program to date.\u201d Since the writing of Trantner\u2019s piece, during Israel\u2019s active genocide in Gaza, the Australian Army has drawn controversy by awarding a billion-dollar contract<\/span><\/a> to Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As we\u2019ve discussed many times, Australia is functionally a military and intelligence asset<\/span><\/a> of the same US-centralized empire as Israel. We\u2019re currently falling all over ourselves<\/span><\/a> helping the US prepare for a future war with China, and we\u2019ve been providing logistical support<\/span><\/a> for the US and UK bombing campaign against Ansarallah in Yemen.<\/span><\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Defence Department has refused a Freedom of Information request about the details of an arms deal with Israel on the grounds that such information \u201ccould harm Australia\u2019s international standing and reputation,\u201d which suggests the details must be pretty damning. Equally as scandalous, this refusal was reportedly made in consultation with the Israeli government.<\/span><\/p>\n In an article titled \u201cDetails of defence deal with Israel kept under wraps to protect Australia\u2019s \u2018reputation\u2019,\u201d the ABC\u2019s Andrew Greene details how the Australian military snubbed a Freedom of Information request by the Australian Greens regarding a \u201cMemorandum of Understanding\u201d between Australia and Israel that was signed in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe document within the scope of this request contains information which, if released, could reasonably be expected to damage the international relations of the Commonwealth,\u201d the Defence Department said in a letter explaining its rejection.If all the violence and chaos we\u2019re seeing in the middle east leads to the US committing to a direct full-scale war in the region, we may be absolutely certain that Canberra will march us into that one as well. All while the empire cages an Australian journalist<\/span><\/a> in a maximum security prison for exposing its war crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n Australia, like Israel, is not a real country. Like Israel, Australia is nothing other than a settler-colonialist outpost of western imperialism built on genocide, ethnic cleansing and theft, and now operates in a way that is inseparable from the US war machine. This land will never know peace or justice until we have extricated ourselves from the talons of the empire.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Australian-reputation-excuse-laughable.jpg?resize=556%2C770&ssl=1\" "\\"Defence")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Australia-secret-defence-deal-with-Israel.jpg?resize=558%2C632&ssl=1\" "\\"Israel")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Australia-F-35-supply-chain.jpg?resize=556%2C749&ssl=1\" "\\"Australia's")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSource: Australian Military Refuses To Disclose Arms Deal With Israel To Protect Its ‘Reputation’<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n