{"id":185986,"date":"2025-12-15T15:55:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/185986\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T15:55:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:55:06","slug":"australian-pm-rejects-netanyahus-linking-of-palestine-recognition-to-bondi-beach-attack-bondi-beach-terror-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/185986\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian PM rejects Netanyahu\u2019s linking of Palestine recognition to Bondi beach attack | Bondi beach terror attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s prime minister has rejected accusations from his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Australia\u2019s recognition of a Palestinian state earlier this year had contributed to Sunday\u2019s deadly antisemitic terrorist attack<\/a> on Bondi beach in Sydney.<\/p>\n

In an interview with national broadcasters, Anthony Albanese<\/a> was asked if he accepted \u201cany link between that recognition and the massacre in Bondi\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t,\u201d Albanese said<\/a>, adding: \u201cOverwhelmingly, most of the world recognises a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifteen Jewish people died and dozens more were injured after two local men opened fire on a crowd gathered to celebrate the religious festival of Hanukah. Both men were shot by police, one fatally.<\/p>\n

Albanese did not directly respond to Netanyahu\u2019s accusation that he had \u201creplaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement\u201d when fighting antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a moment of national unity where we need to come together \u2026 We need to wrap our arms around members of the Jewish community who are going through an extraordinarily difficult period \u2026 My job is \u2026 to make it clear that Australians overwhelmingly stand with the Jewish community at this difficult time,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n

Tensions between Australia and Israel have been high since August, when Israel revoked the visas <\/a>of Australian diplomats in occupied Palestine, which Australia\u2019s foreign minister, Penny Wong, said at the time was an \u201cunjustified reaction, following Australia\u2019s decision to recognise Palestine\u201d.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s government said the decision was part of a coordinated international effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution, a ceasefire to halt the bloody Israeli offensive in Gaza and the release of hostages taken by Hamas in its lethal surprise raid into Israel<\/a> on 7 October 2023.<\/p>\n

At the time, Netanyahu called the move an \u201cabsurdity\u201d and a \u201creward for terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister, who heads the most rightwing government in Israel\u2019s history and faces an election within a year, said Albanese\u2019s government \u201cdid nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are worrying right now about our people, our safety, and we do not remain silent \u2026 We fight those who try to annihilate us,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n

Albanese, who leads the centre-left Labor party, on Monday said his government was prepared to take whatever action was necessary. At a press briefing, Albanese listed actions his government had taken, including criminalising hate speech and incitement to violence and a ban on the Nazi salute.<\/p>\n

Funding for physical security for Jewish community groups would be extended, he said, and pointed to the need for tougher gun laws in Australia, which already has among the world\u2019s most restrictive firearms curbs.<\/p>\n

A special envoy appointed by the government last year to tackle a spate of graffiti and arson attacks on synagogues and Jewish businesses said Sunday\u2019s terrorist attack \u201cdid not come without warning\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe writing has been on the wall,\u201d the envoy, Jillian Segal, said in a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday.<\/p>\n

Jewish community leaders echoed the call for more action. \u201cThere has been a shocking level of antisemitism that has been rearing its head in this country as it has in other countries. When antisemitism goes unchecked from the top, these are the things that happen,\u201d said Levi Wolff, the lead rabbi at Sydney\u2019s Central Synagogue.<\/p>\n

The leader of Australia\u2019s conservative Liberal opposition party said Labor had allowed antisemitism to \u201cfester\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything must change from today in how governments respond,\u201d Sussan Ley told a press conference, adding Albanese must implement all of the recommendations in a report issued by Segal in July, including a focus on university campuses.<\/p>\n

Standing with Segal when the report was released in July, Albanese had condemned antisemitism as an \u201cevil scourge\u201d, and said his government would spend A$25m to boost security at Jewish community sites, including schools, among other measures.<\/p>\n

It was also important to separate antisemitism from legitimate criticism of the Netanyahu government\u2019s actions, Albanese had said, noting he and other international leaders had criticised Israel. \u201cYou should be able to express your view here in Australia about events overseas. Where the line has been crossed is in blaming and identifying people because they happen to be Jewish,\u201d he said in July.<\/p>\n

Along with calling for strengthened hate crime laws, Segal urged tougher screening of visa applicants for antisemitic views, and a focus on universities, cultural bodies and broadcasters.<\/p>\n

According to 2021 census data, there are about 116,967 Australians with Jewish identity, or 0.46% of the national population of 25 million, mostly living in inner Sydney and Melbourne.<\/p>\n

The Labor government has been mindful of Australia\u2019s multicultural society, including the numerous and electorally powerful migrant community from Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Since 2023, police have allowed weekly protest marches against Israel\u2019s war in Gaza through Sydney.<\/p>\n

Australia expelled Iran\u2019s ambassador earlier this year, after intelligence agencies attributed at least two antisemitic arson attacks to Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards.<\/p>\n

Reuters contributed reporting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s prime minister has rejected accusations from his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Australia\u2019s recognition of a Palestinian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-185986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}