Verbal clash between Australia and Israel sparks community concern

News.com.au

16 hours ago

Australia's leading Jewish organisation has issued a rare public rebuke of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Anthony Albanese, as strained relations between the two countries worsened overnight.
The group warned that their recent verbal clashes are placing the Jewish community in a vulnerable position.
In letters delivered on Tuesday, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) said Australian Jews are being drawn into a damaging 'war of words' between the two governments.
In the letter to Mr Albanese, the ECAJ said they were 'appalled' by the comments made by the Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke.
Mr Burke on Wednesday criticised Mr Netanyahu, saying, 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry.'
The ECAJ said it was 'an incendiary and irresponsible comment'.
The letter also called out Mr Albanese's own public criticism of Israel, saying his statement accusing Mr Netanyahu of being 'in denial' about the war's consequences was 'excessive and gratuitously insulting.'
A similar tone was adopted in the letter to Mr Netanyahu, where the ECAJ condemned his remarks that characterised Mr Albanese as 'a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews.'
Mr Netanyahu had personally attacked Mr Albanese on social media and in a stunning letter obtained by Sky News Australia, following tensions over Labor's decision to recognise Palestine.
He accused Mr Albanese of pouring 'fuel on this anti-Semitic fire' by recognising a Palestinian state.
'(It) emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets,' Mr Netanyahu said.
'Prime Minister, anti-Semitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent. It retreats when leaders act.
'I call upon you to replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve, and to do so by a clear date: the Jewish New Year, September 23, 2025.
'History will not forgive hesitation. It will honour action.'
On X, Mr Netanyahu wrote that history 'will remember Albanese for what he is'.
'A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews.'
The ECAJ described Mr Netanyahu's comments as 'inflammatory and provocative'.
'(They) demonstrated a woeful lack of understanding of social and political conditions in Australia,' the ECAJ letter said.
'These comments have played straight into the hands of opponents of Israel and anti-Semites, to the detriment of the Australian Jewish community.'
In both letters, the ECAJ urged the leaders to resolve differences through diplomacy rather than public posturing.
'The Australian Jewish community will not be left to deal with the fallout of a spat between two leaders who are playing to their respective domestic audiences.'
The letters emphasised that both countries are 'mature democracies' and that their governments should act with the restraint expected of national leaders.