‘Baseless blood libels’: FM reprimands Australian envoy after Canberra barred former Israeli minister Shaked

By Lazar Berman

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2 December 2024, 5:32 pm

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Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Then-outgoing interior minister Ayelet Shaked at a handover ceremony with then-incoming minister Aryeh Deri (unseen), at the Ministry of Interior Affairs in Jerusalem, January 1, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar summons Australia’s Ambassador to Israel Ralph King for a reprimand, after Canberra decided not to grant former justice minister Ayelet Shaked a visa to enter the country last month.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Sa’ar tells King that Israel views the move “severely,” and says that it is “contrary to the values of democracy, freedom of expression, and friendship between the countries.”

Sa’ar says that Australia’s decision was “based on baseless blood libels spread by the pro-Palestinian lobby in Australia, and it is a shame that a friendly country like Australia chose to base itself on them instead of on the longstanding friendship between the countries.”