From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
‘Politically toxic’: Lapid chides Netanyahu for attacking Australian PM
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he attacks the Australian premier as a “weak politician” who “betrayed Israel.”
“The thing that most strengthens a leader in today’s democratic world is a confrontation with Netanyahu, the most politically toxic leader in the Western world. It’s unclear why Bibi is rushing to give the Australian prime minister this gift,” Lapid posts on X.
In a statement posted on his official account on X, Netanyahu wrote earlier on Tuesday that “history will remember” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”
Netanyahu’s post came less than a day after Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the revocation of residency visas for Australia’s diplomatic representatives to the Palestinian Authority in response to Canberra’s decision to bar far-right Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman from visiting the country.
Australia has also recently announced that it will recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations.
In recent months, Jews in Australia have experienced a surge in antisemitism.
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