Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has intensified the diplomatic dispute between Israel and Australia, claiming that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s legacy has been irreparably tarnished by his decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
In an interview with Sky News Australia, Netanyahu stated that Albanese’s record would “forever be tarnished” due to his perceived weakness towards Hamas.
Netanyahu’s comments come after a disputed statement attributed to Hamas cofounder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, praising Albanese for his “political courage.”
However, Hamas publicly denied issuing any statement, citing Yousef’s imprisonment in Israel without means of communication.
Netanyahu’s criticism of Albanese follows an earlier statement where he claimed the Australian leader would be remembered as a “weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”
Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke responded to Netanyahu’s comments, saying that strength is “not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry.”
Albanese attempted to downplay the spat, stating he did not take Netanyahu’s comments personally.
Relations between Australia and Israel have deteriorated significantly following Canberra’s decision to recognize Palestine.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry expressed dismay at the tensions, urging both prime ministers to address their differences through diplomacy rather than public posturing.
“The sum total of human wisdom would not have been diminished in the slightest if none of these public comments had been made,” the peak body for Jewish Australians said in its letter to Albanese.
Israel has faced mounting international pressure, including from some of its closest allies, over the scale of human suffering inflicted by its war in Gaza.
More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since it launched its war on Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 251 people captive during its incursion into southern Israel, according to Israeli authorities.