AJDS takes an active role in presenting an alternative viewpoint within the Australian Jewish community and to the community at large. It has taken positions opposing the Gaza Siege and the Occupation, including settlements, and is outspoken in support of civil rights in Israel and the occupied territories. However, it has made clear that its opposition is not to the state of Israel, but to the politics of successive Israeli governments, the settler movement, as well as the move to extremism in Palestinian organisations.