Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday following a decision to bar RZP MK Simcha Rothman from the country.
“History will remember Albanese for what he is: a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
The Religious Zionist Party lawmaker was denied entry into Australia on Monday, less than 24 hours ahead of a planned solidarity trip with the country’s Jewish community.
The decision, made by the Home Affairs Department, was based on an assumption that Rothman’s opinions “mirror the policies of his Religious Zionist Party, including the elimination of Hamas and the expansion and sovereignty of the Israeli state, and the denial of any wrongdoing by Israel against Palestinians and Gaza during the current conflict,” it said.
According to an official document, “namely the Islamic community” would be at risk from Rothman’s visit.
The Australian Jewish Association’s chief executive, Robert Gregory, condemned his government’s decision, calling the timing of the cancellation spiteful and “intended to cause maximum harm to the Australian Jewish community.”
Responses to Australia's decision to bar Israeli MK
Several ministers and politicians slammed Australia’s decision, including Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud).
The decision reflects the “choice to honor Hamas’s rapists and murderers. It reflects a broken moral compass, discrimination, and a grave assault on free speech,” Chikli said.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (New Hope-United Right) responded to Australia’s decision with an announcement that he would be revoking the residence permits of Australia’s representatives to the Palestinian Authority, and that any future official Australian visa requests for entry to Israel will be put under careful review.
“At a time when antisemitism is spreading in Australia, including acts of violence committed against Jews and Jewish institutions, the Australian government chooses to fuel this with false accusations, claiming that visits by Israeli figures would disrupt public order and harm Australia’s Muslim population,” Sa’ar said.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong called Sa’ar’s decision an “unjustified reaction” in a statement, continuing that the “Netanyahu government is isolating Israel and undermining international efforts toward peace.”
Keshet Neev and Reuters contributed to this report.