Afrasianet - Australia has launched a scathing attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, for accusing its Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of weakness and betraying Israel.
In response to Netanyahu's remarks, Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told ABC's public television network that "power is not measured by the number of people you can blow up or the number of children you can leave starving," referring to Israel's massacres and starvation in the Gaza Strip.
Burke added that the real strength is what Albanese did, when he made a decision that he knew Israel would not like him, but he confronted Netanyahu directly and informed him of Australia's position.
For decades, Australia has considered itself a close friend of Israel, but the relationship between them has quickly broken down since Canberra announced last week that it would recognise the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September.
Mutual escalation
On Monday, Australia revoked the visa of Simcha Rothman, a far-right lawmaker from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party, saying it had taken the decision out of fear that his remarks would divide Australian society if he visited Australia .
The next day, Israel responded by revoking the visas of Australian diplomats accredited to the Palestinian Authority, a decision that Canberra sharply criticized.
Hours later, Netanyahu accused the Australian prime minister of being "a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australian Jewry."
In the 1950s, the city of Melbourne, in southeastern Australia, opened its arms to Jews fleeing the horrors of the Holocaust, making it home to the largest number of Holocaust survivors after Israel relative to its total population.
In recent months, Melbourne's ghettos, as well as Sydney's, have seen numerous acts of vandalism targeting synagogues, prompting the government to set up a special anti-Semitism unit.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has "lost his mind" as his government considers whether to recognize a Palestinian state.
"The lack of humanitarian aid, the forced displacement of the population and the annexation of Gaza is absolutely appalling," Luxon told reporters, noting that Netanyahu had "gone too far." "I think he's lost his mind. What we are seeing overnight, the attack on Gaza City, is completely unacceptable."
Lockson said over the weekend that New Zealand was considering recognizing a Palestinian state, while Australia announced its intention to join Canada, Britain and France in recognizing Palestine at UN meetings in September.
Britain, Canada, Australia and several European allies have called for unfettered access to the Gaza Strip, saying the humanitarian crisis there has reached "unimaginable levels."
Outside the New Zealand parliament, a number of protesters gathered with cooking utensils, calling on MPs to "show courage and recognise Palestine".
Parliament was also tense after Green MP Chloe Swarbrick was expelled for two days in a row after she refused to apologise for remarks in which she criticised MPs for not backing a bill to punish Israel for its crimes.