Australia rebukes Netanyahu: Strength is not killing or starving children

Australia launched a strong attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday after he accused its Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, of being “a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”

Responding through one of its senior ministers, Australia said that “strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up”.

Australian Interior Minister Tony Burke told the public broadcaster ABC that “strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up, or by how many children you can leave hungry”.

Relations between Australia and Israel have sharply deteriorated since Canberra announced last week that it would recognise the State of Palestine during the United Nations General Assembly meetings next September.  

On Monday, Australia banned the visa of Simcha Rothman, a far-right Israeli Knesset member from the Religious Zionism party and member of Netanyahu’s coalition, citing concerns that his remarks could fuel divisions within Australian society if he visited the country.

The following day, Israel retaliated by cancelling the visas of Australian diplomats accredited to the Palestinian Authority, a move that Canberra strongly criticised.

READ: Israel’s Netanyahu says ‘weak’ Australian PM abandoned Jewish community