In an escalating worldwide dispute, Israel launched a collection of diplomatic attacks in opposition to a number of of its Western allies as they put together to acknowledge a Palestinian state subsequent month.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despatched two strongly worded letters to the leaders of France and Australia, accusing each males of fueling antisemitism with their resolution to acknowledge a state of Palestine. In each letters, Netanyahu cited antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents that occurred in latest months, linking them to the governments’ positions on the Gaza warfare and Palestinian statehood.
“Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire”, Netanyahu wrote in a letter obtained by NCS to French President Emanuel Macron on Tuesday.
“It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas’s refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.”
The acrimonious letter drew a pointy rebuke from the Elysee Palace, which famous that Macron first discovered of the Israeli letter by way of the press earlier than receiving it by way of diplomatic channels.
France “protects and will always protect its compatriots of the Jewish faith,” the Elysee Palace stated in an announcement. “These times demand seriousness and responsibility, not confusion and manipulation.”
The tensions are an indication of the rising gulf between Netanyahu and his Western allies – many of whom have develop into more and more crucial of Israel’s warfare in Gaza, which has destroyed huge swathes of the territory and led to a worsening humanitarian disaster there.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon final week stated Netanyahu had “lost the plot” whereas Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen informed the Jyllands-Posten newspaper that “Netanyahu is now a problem in himself.”
Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister additionally castigated Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, calling him a “weak politician,” after his authorities cancelled the visa of a far-right lawmaker from Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
Australia and France are two of the latest Western nations to announce plans to acknowledge a State of Palestine. Canada and Portugal have additionally introduced related intentions. Next month, they may be part of greater than 140 different international locations that already acknowledge Palestinian statehood.
The United Kingdom has conditionally stated it’s going to acknowledge a Palestinian state if Israel doesn’t meet standards that features agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Netanyahu set a deadline for the leaders of Australia and France to take motion in opposition to the “cancer” of antisemitism, calling on them “to act” earlier than the Jewish New Year on September 23.
The date coincides with the opening of the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level debate the place the international locations are anticipated to acknowledge a Palestinian state.
France says the transfer is meant to revive the two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian battle and produce peace to the area, however Israel and the US have slammed the initiative, calling it a reward for Hamas terror that may solely set again efforts for peace.
Israel’s tensions with Australia have likewise worsened since Canberra introduced its intention to acknowledge a Palestinian state, following its imposition of sanctions on Israeli far proper ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir in June. The disaster deepened this week after Australian Home affairs Minister Tony Burke denied an entry visa to a different far-right Israeli politician, Simcha Rothman.
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar revoked the residence visas of Australian representatives within the Palestinian Authority and instructed Israel’s embassy in Canberra to scrutinize each official Australian request for a visa to Israel.
Netanyahu later attacked Australian Prime Minister Albanese on social media, saying, “History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”
Albanese, chatting with native reporters on Wednesday, stated he didn’t “take it personally.” He stated, “I treat leaders of other countries with respect, and I engage with them in a diplomatic way.”
Burke rebutted Netanyahu’s “weak” accusation, telling public broadcaster the ABC that “strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry.”