Netanyahu brands Australia's Albanese ‘weak' over Palestinian state recognition
'I don't take these things personally,' Albanese said. 'Increasingly there is global concern and global concern because people want to see an end to the cycle of violence that we have seen for far too long. That is what Australians want to see as well.'
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke further inflamed Israel's anger Monday by cancelling the visa of far-right Israeli lawmaker Simcha Rothman, a member of Netanyahu's coalition, who planned an Australian speaking tour.
Advertisement
Rothman is a member of the Religious Zionism party, which supports continuation of the war, the mass relocation of Palestinians through what it describes as voluntary migration and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Burke on Wednesday accused Netanyahu of 'lashing out' against Australia as he had done against Britain, Canada, France, Ireland, Norway and Spain over recognition of a Palestinian state. Burke denied Albanese was weak.
Advertisement
'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,' Burke told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar retaliated Monday for Rothman's treatment by revoking visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority. Saar also told the Israeli Embassy in Australia to 'carefully examine' any official visa applications from Australia to Israel.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong responded by accusing the Netanyahu government of isolating Israel.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the nation's peak advocacy group, said the Jewish community was 'profoundly disturbed and concerned by the rapidly deteriorating state of relations' between the two countries.
Australian Jews did not feel 'abandoned' by the Albanese government, rejecting Netanyahu's accusation, Ryvchin said.
'When allies speak, they should speak frankly, robustly, but also in a dignified way, and I think firing off tweets which contain elements of abuse to them,' Ryvchin said. 'I don't think that's the way to operate.'
Australia is an increasingly multicultural country where more than half the population was born overseas or has at least one foreign parent.
There is widespread community concern over the Israel-Hamas war, indicated by tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marching over the Sydney Harbor Bridge earlier this month.
Antisemitism has reached unprecedented levels across Australia, which the government acknowledged last year by appointing the nation's first Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Sydney lawyer Jillian Segal.
Australia's conservative opposition party has pledged to reverse Australia's recognition of Palestine if it wins the next election, which is due in 2028.
The worsening bilateral relationship with Israel was spilling over into Australia's relationship with the United States, an important ally that doesn't recognize a Palestinian state, opposition leader Sussan Ley said.
Advertisement
'The prime minister needs to explain how he is going to get this relationship (with Israel) that he has so badly mismanaged back on track,' Ley told reporters.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
a minute ago
- The Hill
Trump calls Netanyahu a ‘war hero' – ‘I guess I am, too'
President Trump said he is a war hero, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, touting the U.S. strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities in June. The president praised Netanyahu in a Tuesday interview on 'The Mark Levin Show' then referenced the strikes that he has said obliterated Tehran's nuclear capabilities and set back the program for years. 'Bibi is a good man. He's in there fighting. He's fighting. You know, they're trying to put him in jail on top of everything else. How about that?' Trump told Levin. 'He's a war hero because we work together. He's a war hero. I guess I am, too.' The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. The president, who never fought in a war, added, 'the pilots came. I rewarded them. I brought them all to the Oval Office. The people having to do with that whole operation, which was so perfect, which was a total of, you know, just an obliteration.' The B-2 pilots who carried out the strike visited the White House for the Fourth of July holiday. The pilots carried out the unprecedented attack on Iran, which has been dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, dropping 30,000-pound bombs on underground nuclear enrichment facilities from so-called bunker busters that took off undetected from a base in Missouri. Following the attack, Trump hit back at an initial Pentagon assessment that damage to the three nuclear facilities only set the Iranians' nuclear program back a few months.
Los Angeles Times
a minute ago
- Los Angeles Times
Israel to mobilize tens of thousands of reservists for expanded Gaza operation
JERUSALEM — Israel's military said Wednesday it would call up tens of thousands of reservists and extend the service of others for an expanded military operation in Gaza City. Defense Minister Israel Katz approved plans to begin a new phase of operations in some of Gaza's most densely populated areas, Israel's military said Wednesday. The scheme, expected to receive the final approval from the chief of staff in the coming days, includes calling up 60,000 reservists and extending the service of an additional 20,000 currently serving. In a country of fewer than 10 million people, the call-up of so many reservists carries both economic and political weight and comes days after hundreds of thousands rallied for a ceasefire. This comes as negotiators scramble to bring Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire ending 22 months of fighting, while international leaders and rights groups warn an expanded assault could deepen Gaza's humanitarian crisis, with most residents displaced, neighborhoods in ruins, and communities facing the threat of famine. A military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said that troops will operate in parts of Gaza City where they have not yet been deployed and where Israel believes Hamas is still active. Israeli troops in the Zeitoun and Jabaliya — a built-up refugee camp in Gaza City — are already preparing the groundwork for the expanded operation. Gaza City is both Hamas' military and governing stronghold and one of the last places of refuge in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands are sheltering. Israeli troops will be targeting Hamas' vast underground tunnel network there, the official added. Although Israel has targeted and killed much of Hamas' senior leadership, parts of the militant group are actively regrouping and carrying out attacks, including launching rockets towards Israel, the official said. It remains unclear when the operation will begin, but it could be a matter of days and such a mobilization of reservists is the largest in months. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the objective of the war is to secure the release of remaining hostages and ensure Hamas and other militants can never again threaten Israel. The planned offensive, first announced earlier this month, comes amid heightened international condemnation of Israel's restrictions on food and medicine reaching Gaza and fears of another mass displacement among Palestinians. AP journalists saw small groups heading south from the city this week, but how many will voluntarily flee remains unclear. Some said they were waiting to see how events unfold before moving yet again, and many insist nowhere is safe from airstrikes. 'What we're seeing in Gaza is nothing short of apocalyptic reality for children, for their families, and for this generation,' Ahmed Alhendawi, regional director of Save the Children, said in an interview. 'The plight and the struggle of this generation of Gaza is beyond being described in words.' The call-up comes as a growing campaign of exhausted reservists accuses the government of perpetuating the war for political reasons and failing to bring home remaining hostages. The families of the hostages and former army and intelligence chiefs have also expressed opposition to the expanded operation in Gaza City. Most of the families of the hostages want an immediate ceasefire and worry an expanded assault could imperil bringing the 50 hostages still in Gaza home. Israel believes that 20 are still alive. Guy Poran, a retired air force pilot who has organized veterans campaigning to end the war, said many reservists are exhausted after repeated tours lasting hundreds of days and resentful of those not called up at all. Most now just want to return to their lives. 'Even those that are not ideologically against the current war or the government's new plans don't want to go because of fatigue or their families or their businesses,' he said. Hamas-led militants started the war when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Hamas says it will only free the rest in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Arab mediators and Hamas said this week the leaders of the Palestinian militant group had agreed to ceasefire terms, though similar announcements have been made in the past that did not lead to a lasting truce. Egypt and Qatar have said they have been waiting for Israel's response to the ceasefire proposal. 'The ball is now in Israel's court,' Egyptian Foreign Minister Bader Abdelattay said Tuesday. An Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media said Israel is in constant contact with the mediators in an effort to secure the release of the hostages. Netanyahu has repeatedly said he will oppose a deal that doesn't include the 'complete defeat of Hamas.' More than 62,122 people have been killed during Israel's 22-month offensive, Gaza's Health Ministry said on Monday. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The ministry does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half of them. In addition to that toll, 154 adults have died of malnutrition-related causes since late June, when the ministry began counting such deaths, and 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began. Israel's far-right national security minister on Wednesday released footage of Israeli prisons showing images of Gaza's destruction to Palestinian inmates. A video posted on Telegram by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir shows him pointing to an image of Palestinians walking amid rubble and half-collapsed buildings, saying they were being shown to security prisoners. 'So they understand that the people of Israel are not messing around,' he wrote. Ben-Gvir's prison visit comes amid a string of provocative moves. It's less than a week after he published a video of himself admonishing an imprisoned Palestinian leader in a face-to-face meeting inside a prison, saying Israel will confront anyone who acts against the country and 'wipe them out.' Two and a half weeks ago, he visited and prayed at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, triggering regional condemnation and fears that the provocative move could further escalate tensions. Netanyahu's government depends on backing from the far-right, which opposes negotiations for a phased ceasefire in Gaza. Ben-Gvir said Monday that Netanyahu didn't have a mandate to pursue such a truce. The far-right bloc nabbed a victory on Wednesday when Israel gave final approval for a controversial settlement project east of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank. The development in what's called E1 would effectively cut the territory in two, and Palestinians and rights groups say it could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state. Israel's military said Wednesday it had killed a Hamas militant who stormed a kibbutz and abducted Yarden Bibas, the father of three whose wife and two young children were also kidnapped on Oct. 7. The Bibas family became one of Israel's most closely followed hostage cases after body camera footage of the mother and her young children being abducted was circulated widely in Israel and abroad. The three were later killed during the war, while Yarden was released. In a statement, Bibas called the killing of his alleged kidnapper 'a small part of my closure' and said he was still awaiting the return of hostages held in Gaza. __ Lidman and Magdy reported from Tel Aviv, Israel and Cairo. Lidman, Metz and Magdy write for the Associated Press.
Washington Post
5 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Authorities charge man suspected of planning attack in Germany, possibly targeting Israeli Embassy
BERLIN — German prosecutors announced terrorism charges Wednesday against a man who they say may have planned to attack the Israeli Embassy in Berlin and intended to join the Islamic State group in Pakistan. The suspect, a Russian national identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested on Feb. 20 at the capital's airport as he prepared to board a flight. He has now been indicted on charges of supporting a foreign terrorist organization, attempted membership in such a group, and preparing a serious act of violence. Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the suspect initially planned to carry out an attack in Germany, possibly on the Israeli Embassy. He allegedly found instructions for making explosives on the internet but was unable to pursue the plan because he couldn't get a hold of the necessary components. At the same time, the suspect was allegedly translating propaganda into Russian and Chechen for IS. Prosecutors said he intended to join the group in Pakistan and get military training, and that he financed the trip by taking out two contracts for expensive smartphones, which he then sold. He allegedly sent a video declaring loyalty to the group to a suspected IS member outside of Germany shortly before his departure. The indictment was filed earlier this month to a court in Berlin, which will now have to decide whether to send the case to trial.
