‘He Protesteth Too Much…’ Netanyahu snarls at Australian government with ‘I told you this was coming if you recognized a Palestinian state’

‘A few months ago, I wrote a letter to the Australian prime minister,’ PM attacks after Bondi Beach massacre. ‘I said that their policy of recognizing a Palestinian state adds fuel to the fires of anti-Semitism and encourages the Jew-hatred running rampant in Australia’s streets’

Israel Hayom

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the Australian government on Sunday following the deadly terror attack at the Hanukkah candle-lighting event in Bondi Beach, Australia, near Sydney.

Addressing the incident, Netanyahu described antisemitism as a ‘cancer’ and said leaders who remain silent were complicit in letting the circumstances evolve toward such incidents.

‘A few months ago, I wrote a letter to the Australian prime minister,’ Netanyahu said. ‘I said that their policy of recognizing a Palestinian state adds fuel to the antisemitic fire and encourages the Jew-hatred running rampant in Australia’s streets. Antisemitism is a cancer, and it spreads when leaders are silent. They must replace weakness with strength. That did not happen in Australia, and something terrible occurred there today.’

The Israeli leader’s correspondence, leaked to Sky News Australia and dated August 17, 2025, explicitly charges Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with ‘pouring fuel on this antisemitic fire’ via Palestinian state advocacy. Netanyahu contends that such diplomatic positioning ’emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.’ Netanyahu called Albanese a ‘weak politician.’

The correspondence establishes September 23, 2025 – coinciding with the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashanah – as Netanyahu’s deadline for transformative Australian action against antisemitic escalation, Sky News Australia confirmed. The Israeli premier demanded Albanese ‘replace weakness with action’ and ‘appeasement with resolve’ through ‘concrete policy initiatives’ addressing the crisis.

An Israeli intelligence source told Israel Hayom that ‘in recent months there has been a marked increase in activity by Iran and its proxies, the terrorist organizations Hezbollah and Hamas, aimed at carrying out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide.’ The source added that ‘this included Australia, where, following specific intelligence warnings, the government took partial measures against the Iranian Embassy, including the expulsion of the ambassador. There is no doubt that the direction and infrastructure for the attack originated in Tehran.’