The head of one of Australia’s leading Jewish organizations has spoken out against the country’s decision to bar far-right Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman from visiting the country, even if many do not share Rothman’s far-right views.
“It is one thing to disagree strongly with an elected representative of a democracy and ally, it is quite another to deny them entry on that basis,” Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, says in a statement to The Times of Israel.
While noting that many of Rothman’s views “are highly offensive and do not reflect the values of the Australian Jewish community or the mainstream Israeli public,” Leibler states that Australia “ought not set such a precedent.”
A spokesman for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the official representative of Australian Jewish organizations, declines to comment.
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