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Australia and Israel are trading diplomatic blows with each side taking actions against the other’s officials.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a scathing statement accusing Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of betraying Israel.
“History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews,” Netanyahu said.
AUSTRALIA TO RECOGNIZE PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD: ‘HUMANITY’S BEST HOPE’
Albanese announced last week that Australia will recognize the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The move follows similar commitments made by the U.K., France and Canada. Additionally, Australia also canceled the visa of Religious Zionist Party lawmaker Simcha Rothman, part of Netanyahu’s coalition.
Rothman was set to embark on a “solidarity tour” to meet with Australia’s Jewish community as it grapples with surging antisemitism.
“The timing of the cancellation at the last minute was spiteful and intended to cause maximum harm to the Australian Jewish community. Mr. Rothman received his cancellation on the day he was to head to the airport for his flight,” Australian Jewish Association (AJA) CEO Robert Gregory said in a statement posted to the group’s Facebook. “The message from the Albanese Government to Jews is clear and we urge all Jews to seriously consider whether it is safe for them to visit Australia under this government.”
Despite the ban, AJA arranged for Rothman to address the Jewish community virtually, saying “the show will go on” and “the Jew-haters will not win.”
“The Jewish community won’t bow down to Tony Burke or Penny Wong. Instead of many events, we will hold one large communal event where Simcha will address the Jewish community via Zoom,” AJA announced on X.
ANTISEMITIC ATTACKERS VIOLENTLY TARGET SYNAGOGUE, ISRAELI RESTAURANT IN AUSTRALIA
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he would revoke visas for Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority. He also directed Israel’s embassy in Canberra to “carefully examine any official Australian visa application.”
“While antisemitism is raging in Australia, including manifestations of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions, the Australian government is choosing to fuel it by false accusations, as if the visit of Israeli figures will disrupt public order and harm Australia’s Muslim population,” Sa’ar wrote on X. “It is shameful and unacceptable!”
AJA praised Sa’ar’s decision, saying that “The disgusting antisemitism from the Albanese government deserves a strong response.”
Australia’s Jews have seen antisemitism surge since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre. According to an annual report released by Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, the country saw 2,062 anti-Jewish incidents. This marked an increase of 316% since its report of the previous year — Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023 — when there were 495 recorded incidents. ECAJ has yet to release a report for 2025.
The report documents assaults, verbal abuse, vandalism and other incidents. When broken down into categories, anti-Jewish physical assaults rose by 491% since the previous report and verbal abuse increased by 230% over the same period.
Fox News Digital reached out to AJA and Albanese’s office but did not receive responses in time for publication.
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