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Former defence force chief Mark Binskin may return to Israel to follow up his initial investigation into the fatal drone strike that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom as Israel seeks to calm the Australian government’s anger over a decision not to prosecute the officers involved in her killing.
Reparations could also be paid to Frankcom’s family if a formal request is lodged, Israel’s ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman said on Friday as the envoy adopted a strikingly more conciliatory tone than he had used the previous day.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong spoke to her Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar on Thursday night and conveyed her displeasure at the Israeli Military Advocate General’s decision not to advocate criminal charges against the soldiers responsible for Frankcom’s death.
Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have branded the decision an “outrage”, with Frankcom’s family saying they were deeply disappointed and wanted an independent investigation into the circumstances of the April 2024 drone strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy.
“Israel is open to discussions on the legal aspects,” Newman told ABC radio on Friday when asked whether options remain available for those seeking accountability for Frankcom’s killing.
“We can share information with legal teams of Australia, and the aspect of reparations can be checked definitely.”
Newman said the Military Advocate General’s decision echoed a 2024 investigation by Binskin, commissioned by the Australian government, that found the aid workers were not intentionally targeted.
He said that “we’re talking about the possibility of Binskin himself coming again and having again access to the people who made the decision”.
“There are all kinds of ideas of how to share the background for the decisions that were made,” he said.
Newman softened his language from the previous day, when he suggested the matter was over and said that Israel has “got a lot of haters out there”.
The Israeli military investigation “determined that, notwithstanding serious failures in the process that led to the assessment that Hamas operatives were travelling in the vehicles, the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct”.
Albanese told the ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday night that “there’s a need for a far more transparent and clear explanation from the Israeli government other than what we’ve received”.
He said the government will “make an announcement in the coming days” following consultations with Frankcom’s family.
The Frankcom family called for the government to “pursue all available legal avenues for an independent and credible investigation to be conducted”.
Binskin, who served as chief of air force and chief of the defence force, found the strike “was not knowingly or deliberately directed against” the World Central Kitchen convoy, but called for an official apology to Frankcom’s family.
While the ambassador has expressed sorrow and sympathy, no formal apology has been delivered.
Binskin found the strike on the aid convoy was the result of a failure of Israeli military controls “leading to errors in decision-making and a misidentification”, and that the strike violated the Israeli military’s standard operating procedures and rules of engagement.
He did not express a view on whether criminal charges should be brought against the soldiers involved.
The Zionist Federation of Australia said the Military Advocate General’s findings were “broadly consistent” with Binskin’s inquiry.
“Israel should provide the fullest possible explanation of its findings in the WCK case, including to the Australian Government and Zomi’s family,” the federation said.
“But accountability must ultimately follow the evidence. A tragic and unacceptable operational failure is not, without evidence establishing the necessary elements, necessarily a criminal act.”
Wong on Thursday stressed that Binskin did not have access to all necessary information and that key questions remain unanswered about the strike.
“These include why, even if the first strike was a catastrophic error, two further strikes followed, each two minutes apart,” she said.
“We still have not had a satisfactory explanation of why the strike occurred in a humanitarian fire control zone and after high command had directed the brigade commander not to engage the convoy.”
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Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.From our partners
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