Zionist entity revokes visas of Australian diplomats
Zionist Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Australia's ambassador to the Zionist entity had been informed that the visas of representatives to the Palestinian Authority had been revoked. Like many countries, Australia maintains an embassy to the entity in Tel Aviv and a representative office to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
'I also instructed the (Zionist) Embassy in Canberra to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for entry to (the Zionist entity),' Saar wrote on X, describing Australia's refusal to grant visas to some citizens of the Zionist entity as 'unjustifiable'.
Australia's government did not immediately comment. The Palestinian foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the entity's decision as illegal and 'in violation of international law. Australia is set to recognize a Palestinian state next month, a move it says it hopes will contribute to international momentum towards a two-state solution, a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Invitation by Jewish group
Simcha Rothman, a parliamentarian from the Religious Zionism party led by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, had been scheduled to visit Australia this month at the invitation of a conservative Jewish organization. Rothman said he was told his visa had been cancelled over remarks the Australian government considered controversial and inflammatory, including his assertion that Palestinian statehood would lead to the destruction of the Zionist entity and his call for Zionist sovereignty over the West Bank. 'Nothing that I said personally has not been said over and over again by the vast majority of the public in (the Zionist entity) and the Government of (the Zionist entity),' Rothman told Reuters by phone.
Rothman said he had been informed that his views would cause unrest among Australian Muslims. Asked about Canberra's decision on Palestinian statehood, Rothman said that would be a 'grave mistake and a huge reward for Hamas and for terror'. Australia's Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke said in an emailed statement that the government takes a hard line on those who seek to spread division in Australia, and that anyone coming to promote a message of hate and division was not welcome. 'Under our government, Australia will be a country where everyone can be safe, and feel safe,' he said.
The Home Affairs Ministry declined further comment. Rothman had been invited by the Australian Jewish Association to meet members of the Jewish community and show solidarity in the face of 'a wave of antisemitism,' AJA Chief Executive Robert Gregory said. In June, Australia and four other countries imposed sanctions on Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over accusations of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. — Reuters
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