Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had penned a letter to his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, for failing to confront antisemitism in his country and for "rewarding Hamas terrorism" by choosing to recognize a Palestinian state, according to Sky News Australia.
Netanyahu said in the letter that he recommended the Australian leader to follow in the footsteps of US President Donald Trump to combat antisemitism and to "replace weakness with action."
Netanyahu then demanded that Albanese have a change in policy in combating antisemitism in his country, and that he "does so by a clear date: the Jewish New Year, September 23, 2025.”
Sky News, which obtained a copy of the letter, quoted Netanyahu telling Albanese that it's "not diplomacy, it is appeasement." The letter was dated on Sunday, according to the report.
The letter a quoted Netanyahu listing numerous recent incidents of antisemitism across Australia following the Hamas October 7 attacks in southern Israel. Antisemitic occurrences in Australia mentioned in the letter included defacing and vandalism of synagogues, cars, and buildings, and the attack on an Israeli-owned restaurant.
Albanese is a 'weak politician' who betrayed Australia's Jews, Netanyahu said earlier
On Monday, Religious Zionist Party MK Simcha Rothman was denied entry into Australia, less than 24 hours ahead of a planned solidarity trip with the country’s Jewish community. This led Netanyahu to slam Albanese earlier on Tuesday for the ban, saying, "History will remember Albanese for what he is: a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews."
Australian Jewish groups expressed disappointment with Rothman's ban from entering Australia, arguing that the denial of a visa for the Israeli politician’s solidarity tour was based on flawed logic.
In response, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced his decision to revoke the residence permits of Australia’s representatives to the Palestinian Authority.
Keshet Neev and Michael Starr contributed to this report.