Netanyahu Faces Global Backlash for Linking Sydney Shooting to Australian Palestine Recognition
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew widespread condemnation Sunday for attempting to connect a deadly shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, to the Australian government’s recent decision to recognize Palestinian statehood. The controversial statement ignited a firestorm of criticism, with observers accusing Netanyahu of exploiting a tragedy for political gain adn downplaying antisemitism.
Netanyahu referenced a letter he sent to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August, following the proclamation by Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong recognizing Palestine. This move aligned Australia with Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, all of which made similar decisions amid Israel’s ongoing and widely condemned assault on the Gaza Strip. In his letter, Netanyahu asserted that “Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets.”
The Israeli leader disseminated a video and transcript of his remarks on the social media platform X, prompting a swift response from Jasper Nathaniel, a reporter covering the occupied West Bank, who labeled it a “depraved response to a depraved act.”
“Obviously massacring unarmed men, women, and children at a Hanukkah celebration is antisemitic terror,” Nathaniel elaborated in a subsequent post. “Just like massacring unarmed men,women,and children in Gaza and the West Bank is anti-palestinian terror. There are no moral exceptions regarding the slaughter of civilians.”
Electronic Intifada director Ali Abunimah offered a scathing interpretation of Netanyahu’s statement, asserting, “Basically Netanyahu is saying that Australia got what it had coming for not supporting his genocide in Gaza even more than it already does.”
Avi Meyerstein, founder of the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Middle East Peace, countered this viewpoint, stating, “This is absurd. Calling to resolve the israeli-Palestinian conflict with peace, security, and self-determination for all, recognizing Israel and palestine both, is a call to reduce the flames and put everyone on a path toward a better future.”
Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and current congressional candidate in New York, also condemned Netanyahu’s comments. He argued that the remarks represented “an atrocious downplaying of real antisemitism at a time when rampant Jew hatred is killing people.”
The attack in Australia has resulted in the deaths of 16 people, including at least one of the two gunmen, with dozens more injured. A heroic bystander, identified by Australian media as ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner and father, wrestled a gun away from one of the shooters, sustaining gunshot wounds in the process. His cousin reported that he required surgery after being shot twice.
Even while acknowledging the bravery of al Ahmed – whom Netanyahu described as a “Muslim brave man” – the Israeli leader reiterated his criticism of Albanese’s “weakness.”
Responding to Netanyahu, Assal rad, a fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC, condemned the attempt to deflect blame. “Blaming Palestinian statehood, while committing genocide against them, is just another reminder that you want to erase Palestinians from existence,” she stated. Rad further emphasized the importance of consistent condemnation of violence, arguing, “If you condemn the horrific, antisemitic attack in Bondi Beach while still defending genocide in Gaza, you’re not actually outraged by the killing of innocent people.Its not hard to condemn both, unless you think some lives are more valuable than others.”
This article first appeared on The Real News Network and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
