Middle East vote sparks battle between Jewish MPs

TWO prominent Jewish MPs have engaged in a public spat over which of the major political parties is a bigger friend of Israel. Labor's Michael Danby has lambasted the Coalition's Josh Frydenberg as an ''inexperienced Liberal Party operative'' looking to score cheap political points after Mr Frydenberg challenged the Gillard government to vote against Palestinian statehood at the United Nations next week.

Mr Frydenberg made the comments during a speech in Parliament earlier this week, during which he also called on the Greens to distance themselves from the campaign to boycott Israeli companies.  ''Israel will survive these trying times and when it does, no doubt remember who was there when it counted,'' Mr Frydenberg said.

Mr Danby then hit back with a statement in which he pointed out that Liberal preferences helped elect Greens MP Adam Bandt at the last election.  He said the Liberals had also given preferences to Senator Lee Rhiannon, who Mr Danby recently labelled the ''the Elena Ceausescu of the Greens'', for her hard Left past and endorsement of the boycott campaign.

''The Labor Party is and always will be a friend of the Australian Jewish community in Israel,'' the MP for Melbourne Ports said.

''It is in the interests of that community and Israel to have strong friends in both mainstream parties. Inexperienced Liberal Party operatives should not be cheap, shallow point-scoring as a battering ram for their own political benefit at the expense of that community. The issue is too important.''

High-profile Labor politicians, including the Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, the Deputy Prime Minister, Wayne Swan, and the Victorian Labor leader, Daniel Andrews, have joined Mr Danby in supporting chocolate chain Max Brenner against boycott calls. The store has been targeted because of links to the Israeli Defence Force.

The Herald reported recently that Mr Rudd wanted Australia to abstain in the UN vote to recognise a Palestinian state, pitting him against the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard's, declared strong support for Israel. Mr Rudd has written to Ms Gillard, recommending Australia neither vote for nor against the resolution.