Netanyahu accuses Australian PM of “betraying” Israel

The Israeli Prime Minister accused his Australian counterpart of having “betrayed Israel” and “abandoned” the Jewish community of Australia, after days of increasingly tense relations between the two countries.

Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that history would remember Anthony Albanese “for what he is: a weak politician”.

He came after Australia prohibited a far -right member of the Netanyahu power coalition from entering the country on Monday, his visa canceled before a planned visit.

Israel in turn revoked the visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian authority, also accused the announcement of Canberra last week that he would recognize a Palestinian state in September.

There was no immediate response from the Albanian Prime Minister.

The head of the opposition of Israel criticized Netanyahu’s remarks, calling them “gift” to the Australian leader.

Yair Lapid wrote on X: “The thing that most strengthens a leader in the democratic world today is a confrontation with Netanyahu, the most politically toxic leader in the Western world.

“We do not know why Bibi rushes to offer the Prime Minister of Australia this gift.”

Diplomatic tensions broke out Monday after the Australian Visa of the Far -right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman was canceled before a visit to the country, where he was to speak during events organized by Australian Jewish Association.

The Australian Minister of Internal Affairs told Sky News at the time when the government had “a hard line on people looking to come to our country and spread the division”.

Tony Burke added: “If you come to Australia to broadcast a message of hatred and division, we don’t want you here.”

A few hours later, Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that he had “asked the Israeli Canberra Embassy to carefully examine any official Australian visa request for the entry into Israel”.

He added in an article on X: “While anti -Semitism rages in Australia, including manifestations of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions, the Australian government chose to feed it”.

There has been a series of anti-Semitic attacks in Australia in recent months in the midst of tensions during the War of Israel-Hamas.

Australia announced in early August that it would recognize a Palestinian state, with the Albanian Prime Minister saying at the time that Netanyahu was “in denial” of the consequences of the war against the innocent people.

“The cessation of the help we have seen, then the losses of lives that we see around these points of distribution of aid, where people queuing for food and water lose their lives, is simply unacceptable,” he said.

The announcement follows similar measures by the United Kingdom, France and Canada.

In response, Netanyahu launched a scathing attack on the leaders of the three countries, accusing Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of putting themselves on the side of “mass murderers, rapists, babies and kidnappers”.

The state of Palestine is currently recognized by 147 of the 193 UN member states.