Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke fired back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday after the latter described his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, as a “weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”
“Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,” Burke told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“Strength is much better measured by exactly what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has done, which is when there’s a decision that we know Israel won’t like, he goes straight to Benjamin Netanyahu. He has the conversation; he says exactly what we’re intending to do and has the chance for the objections to be made person to person.”
He said that Netanyahu “lashed out” at a number of countries that stated they would recognize a Palestinian state.
Albanese 'doesn't take Netanyahu's comments personally'
Albanese, at a Wednesday press conference, issued a more restrained response than Burke, saying he doesn’t take his Israeli counterpart’s comments personally.
“There is global concern because people want to see an end to the cycle of violence that we have seen for far too long,” he said. “That is what Australians want to see.” He also said that the Australian government still supported the position of a two-state solution as a means to end the conflict.
Netanyahu made his initial statements toward Albanese after the Australian government announced it would recognize a Palestinian state.
A letter penned by the Israeli leader to his Australian counterpart stated that Albanese had failed to confront antisemitism in his country and that the recognition of a Palestinian state “rewards Hamas terrorism,” according to Sky News.
He added that Albanese should take after US President Donald Trump’s example of combating antisemitism.
“It’s not diplomacy; it is appeasement,” Sky News quoted the letter as saying.
The heated exchange between the Israeli and Australian officials came just after Religious Zionist Party MK Simcha Rothman was denied entry into Australia earlier this week, less than 24 hours ahead of a planned trip in solidarity with the country’s Jewish community.