Netanyahu accuses Australia of betrayal for recognising Palestinian State

By Michael Heath

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese of betrayal for planning to recognize a Palestinian state, in a rare public attack on a historically friendly nation. 

Ties began taking a turn for the worse last week when Australia announced it would join France, the UK and Canada in recognizing a Palestinian state at next month’s United Nations summit. Tensions escalated this week after Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke canceled the visa of Simcha Rothman, a member of Israel’s far-right Religious Zionism party who had been scheduled to speak in Australia. 

  Israel in turn revoked visas for Australian diplomats in the Palestinian territories, with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar saying the decision was in response to Australia’s plan to recognize Palestine and the barring of Rothman’s visit. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called that action “unjustified” and said the Netanyahu government is isolating Israel.

 

A post then appeared on the X account of the Israeli prime minister late Tuesday saying, “History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.” 

Australia, a long-time backer of Israel, threw its full support behind the Jewish state after Hamas’ deadly attack on Oct 7, 2023, when militants rampaged through Israel killing 1,200 people and abducting 250. 

 

But as the conflict has dragged on, Israel has found itself increasingly isolated — aside from the US — over the mounting humanitarian toll in Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry in the territory says more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, while Israeli restrictions on aid have drawn warnings of worsening hunger from the UN and relief agencies.

 

In Australia, anti-Israeli sentiment and antisemitic incidents have increased, with an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue. While Albanese’s government has condemned these cases and called for social cohesion, local Jewish communities say they feel increasingly unsafe. 

 

Responding to Netanyahu, Burke described the comments as a “lashing out” similar to those seen toward other countries that announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state. The home affairs minister noted that Albanese had telephoned Netanyahu as a courtesy ahead of the announcement on Palestine.

 

“Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many people you can leave hungry,” Burke said. “Strength is much better measured by what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has done, which is when there’s a decision we know Israel won’t like he goes straight to Benjamin Netanyahu.”

 

Israel’s liberal Haaretz newspaper also criticized Netanyahu’s comments, describing the post on X as “deranged.”

 

“Netanyahu is not satisfied with Israel’s seven war fronts over the last two years,” Haaretz said in an editorial. “He seems very determined to declare war on the entire world.”