Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against the policies of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following the Bondi Beach shooting on Sunday.
After two gunmen targeted a Hanukkah event in Australia and killed at least 15 people, Netanyahu said he warned Albanese in August that his decision to call for Palestinian statehood “pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.” Netanyahu said his August letter warned “that the Australian Government’s policy was promoting and encouraging antisemitism in Australia.”
“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country. You took no action, you let the disease spread, and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said, referring to Albanese, during an Israeli government meeting Sunday.
The shooting took place at Chabad of Bondi’s “Chanukah by the Sea” event on the first day of Hanukkah. Albanese called the shooting “a devastating terrorist incident” in a statement following a meeting of the country’s National Security Committee. One gunman was killed in the shooting, with the other taken into custody.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith; an act of evil antisemitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation. An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian, and every Australian tonight will be, like me, devastated on this attack on our way of life,” Albanese said in his statement.
“There is no place for this hate, violence, and terrorism in our nation. Let me be clear, we will eradicate it. Amidst this vile act of violence and hate, will emerge a moment of national unity, where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith at this dark moment for our nation,” Albanese said.
Australia announced on Aug. 11 that it would recognize Palestinian Statehood in September at the U.N. General Assembly, which it subsequently did on Sept. 21. Netanyahu said he wrote his letter to Albanese on Aug. 17.
“I wrote, ‘Your call for a Palestinian state pours full fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorism. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets. Antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent, it retreats when leaders act. I call upon you to replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve’,” Netanyahu said Sunday, recounting his August letter.
ELEVEN DEAD AFTER GUNMEN OPEN FIRE ON JEWISH EVENT IN AUSTRALIA
Netanyahu also praised the bystander, identified as Ahmed el Ahmed, who disarmed one of the gunmen of the Bondi Beach attack.
“We saw an action of a brave man — turns out a Muslim brave man — and I salute him, that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews,” Netanyahu said.
