The head of Australia's peak Jewish body, Peter Wertheim, has condemned the Australian Labor Party (ALP) for removing references to Hamas disarming from its draft policy platform.

Wertheim, a longtime confidant of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, argued the platform lacks balance and fails to reflect the government's stance on excluding Hamas from Gaza and requiring Palestinian Authority reforms.

The ALP planned to present a unified front on Israel/Palestine issues with two MPs, Josh Burns (Jewish) and Bassem Abdo (son of Palestinian refugees), but internal disputes over wording threatened this effort.

Wertheim highlighted that the platform omitted key commitments from the Palestinian Authority, such as governance reforms and ending payments to Palestinian prisoners' families, which are prerequisites for Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state.

He also noted Hamas had acknowledged its role in Gaza by transferring functions to a US-backed committee, yet the platform only refers to Hamas as a terrorist group.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong reiterated Australia's stance against Hamas's role in Palestine, but the revised platform dropped earlier calls for Palestinian Authority accountability and explicit criticism of Israel's settler activities.

The Israeli embassy criticized the draft for blaming one side unfairly, while the Palestinian delegation urged more practical steps toward statehood recognition.