‘Only inflamed the situation': Netanyahu's ‘stinging and personal' attack against Albanese
'The first thing I have to say about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stinging and personal attack on our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, is that I agree with him,' Mr Kenny said.
'The Israeli prime minister only inflamed the situation, and it got worse when someone in the Israeli system leaked a letter from Netanyahu to Albanese.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


9 News
a minute ago
- 9 News
Trump calls himself, Netanyahu, 'war hero'
US President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a 'war hero' and said he is one,


Perth Now
35 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Israeli army says first steps of Gaza operation start
Israel's military has announced the first steps of an operation to take over Gaza City and called up tens of thousands of reservists while the government considered a new ceasefire proposal to pause nearly two years of war. "We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," Brigadier General Effie Defrin, Israel's military spokesman, told reporters. A military official briefing reporters earlier on Wednesday said reserve soldiers would not report for duty until September, an interval that gives mediators some time to bridge gaps between Hamas and Israel over truce terms. But after Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Israeli leader sped up the timeline for taking control of Hamas strongholds and defeating the militant group that triggered the conflict with an attack on Israel in October 2023. The Israeli statements signalled Israel was pressing ahead with its plan to seize the Gaza' Strip's biggest urban centre despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians. Defrin said troops were already operating on the outskirts of Gaza City, and Hamas was now a "battered and bruised" guerrilla force. "We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organisation," the spokesman said. Israel's military called up tens of thousands of reservists on Wednesday in preparation for the expected assault on Gaza City as the Israeli government considered a new truce proposal. Israel's security cabinet, chaired by Netanyahu, approved a plan this month to expand the campaign in the enclave with the aim of taking Gaza City, where Israeli forces waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas in the early stages of the war. Israel currently holds about 75 per cent of the Gaza Strip. Many of Israel's closest allies have urged the government to reconsider but Netanyahu is under pressure from some ultranationalist members of his coalition to reject a temporary ceasefire, continue the war and pursue the annexation of the territory. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced final approval on Wednesday of a widely condemned Israeli plan for a settlement project in the occupied West Bank that he said would erase any prospect of a Palestinian state. The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities near the border, killing about 1200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages including children into the enclave, according to Israeli figures. More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground war in the Gaza Strip since then, according to Gazan health officials, who do not say how many were militants but have said most of those killed have been women and children. Hamas has accepted a proposal put forward by Arab mediators for a 60-day ceasefire that would involve releasing some of the remaining hostages and freeing Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The Israeli government, which has said all the 50 remaining hostages must be released at once, is studying the proposal. Israeli authorities believe that 20 hostages are still alive. Many Gazans and foreign leaders fear a storming of Gaza City would cause significant casualties. Israel says it will help civilians leave battle zones before any assault begins. Israeli troops clashed on Wednesday with more than 15 Hamas militants who emerged from tunnel shafts and attacked with gunfire and anti-tank missiles near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two others, an Israeli military official said. In a statement, Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades confirmed carrying out a raid on Israeli troops southeast of Khan Younis and engaging Israeli troops at point-blank range. It said one fighter blew himself up among the soldiers, causing casualties, during an attack that lasted several hours. Israel's military campaign has caused widespread devastation across the Gaza Strip, which before the war was home to about 2.3 million Palestinians. Many buildings including homes, schools and mosques have been destroyed while the military has accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure, which Hamas denies.

The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Albanese's response to blistering personal attack struck the right tone
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese found himself standing precipitously in the path of a potentially disastrous international storm blasting in from Israel overnight when his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu called him a 'weak' apologist for Hamas. In a blistering letter sent in response to Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state and a diplomatic tit-for-tat visa row, the conservative Israeli leader did not hold back. 'History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews,' Netanyahu wrote. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire,' the letter reads. 'It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas' refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.' Loading It doesn't get much more personal or damning than that, and there was a collective holding of breath as the nation waited to see how the Australian leader would respond as Australian-Israeli relations hit a new low. When he broke his silence about noon, Albanese was measured in tone. Speaking from South Australia, he said he treated foreign leaders 'with respect' and didn't take the description of him as 'weak' personally. 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect, I engage with them in a diplomatic way,' Albanese said, declining to descend into an ugly verbal exchange with his Israeli counterpart. The Herald supports this measured tone. There is no upside for Australia getting drawn into a personal slanging match between nations. The latest flare-up in tensions came when Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's department cancelled a visa this week for far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, based on his views and comments that included calling Gazan children 'enemies' of Israel. While Albanese played a straight bat, he used Burke as his attack dog. 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,' Burke told ABC radio. While many conservative commentators are appalled at the actions of the Albanese government and would back the overall sentiment of Netanyahu, if not his exact language, this is by no means universal. Some sections of the Jewish community in Australia called out Netanyahu for overstepping the mark. Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler described Netanyahu's comments as 'entirely unhelpful and unproductive', while Alex Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said the Jewish community had 'never felt abandoned by this government'. So clearly, there is a view that Netanyahu was out of line, and while there is room for debate on Labor's actions on Palestine, the reaction by the Israeli leader was disproportionate. For now, Albanese is correct to focus on the more substantive issues, such as an immediate end to the conflict in Gaza that has dragged on for far too long, rather than play personal politics. But he must also keep pressure on the Palestinian side to uphold its end of the bargain and help ensure any future state rejects terrorism, turns away from Hamas and commits to a peaceful co-existence with its neighbour.