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Did Netanyahu’s verbal attack strike home? Just look at who defended Albanese
By James Massola
Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal attack on Anthony Albanese as “weak” marks a new low in Australia-Israel relations.
Relations between the two nations, which have been historic allies since the establishment of Israel after World War II, have been deteriorating for more than a year.
Following the brutal attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel had enormous sympathy from the international community. The horrific images of people being attacked, kidnapped and killed drew widespread condemnation.
But Israel’s unrelenting, scorched-earth approach to Gaza since then has done enormous damage to that global goodwill, and contributed directly to Albanese’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations next month.
The government’s decision to bar far-right Israeli MP Simcha Rothman from entering the country escalated tensions between the two nations to another level.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has form in cancelling visas for people he believes could damage social cohesion in Australia. This includes rapper Kanye West because of his antisemitic remarks.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Anthony Albanese.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
Of course, there is a big difference between denying a celebrity rapper a visa and denying a member of another nation’s parliament, and Israel’s tit-for-tat response to the Rothman decision – revoking visas to Australian diplomats working in the occupied West Bank – was arguably a proportional diplomatic response.
Netanyahu’s furious personal attack on Albanese, including calling him a “weak” politician who had abandoned Australia’s Jews, was not.
Albanese no doubt expected Netanyahu to criticise him, given the Israeli PM has also sharply criticised France, Canada and the UK for their plans to recognise a Palestinian state and calling for the war in Gaza to end.
Netanyahu is a wily politician who is close to US President Donald Trump. He has frequently been at odds with former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Despite that, material US support for Israel has barely wavered for decades.
The fact that Netanyahu has had the strong support of successive US presidents of both political persuasions underscores just how canny he is. The move by Western nations to recognise Palestine is at least as much designed to pressure the US into tempering its unstinting support for Israel, though whether Trump can be convinced to bring pressure to bear on Netanyahu remains to be seen.
Australia has supported a two-state solution to this intractable conflict for decades, as have other Western nations.
There is sympathy for Israel in this conflict, but that is not the same thing as supporting Netanyahu’s criticism of Albanese. The proof of this is in who has defended Albanese on Wednesday.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin, a frequent critic of Albanese’s response to the rise of antisemitism in Australia, described Netanyahu’s comments as “unseemly”. He added that both Netanyahu’s comments about Albanese and Burke’s response were “contrary to the interests of the people they’re seeking to represent and serve”.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said Albanese should, as the leader of Australia, be respected while lamenting the deterioration in relations. Home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie, another strong supporter of Israel and critic of Albanese, said he would always back an Australian prime minister.
Albanese claimed the moral high ground on Wednesday after the ad hominem attack, saying he would not take the comments personally and would continue to engage with the Israeli PM.
Netanyahu’s coalition government is propped up by a handful of far-right politicians, such as Rothman, who have been quite clear about their opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
If his government were to fall, Netanyahu could face a damning investigation into the intelligence failures that led to the October 2023 attacks. He is also subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
Netanyahu’s comments should be viewed through this lens.
Although his criticism of Albanese was intended to weaken and isolate the Australian prime minister, Netanyahu has achieved the opposite – and further weakened support for Israel in this country, much as the images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have done.
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