Albanese Must Confront Netanyahu’s Genocide Lies

Australia cannot be bullied into silence by an apartheid regime

Albanese Must Confront Netanyahu’s Genocide Lies

Australia cannot be bullied into silence by an apartheid regime

Tensions between Australia and Israel continue to deteriorate – and that is a good thing. Finally, it seems the Australian government is beginning to see what it should have recognised many years ago.

Last week Australia declared it would recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN in September. Earlier this week, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Tony Burke cancelled Israeli parliamentarian Simcha Rothman’s visa, barring his entry into Australia. Rothman, a hardline figure of Israel’s extremist politics, was told his message of spreading hatred was not welcome. Burke cited his inflammatory rhetoric as a direct threat to public safety and Australia’s community cohesion.

Relations collapsed further this morning when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese found himself in the crosshairs of Benjamin Netanyahu, who launched a scathing attack branding him weak and accusing him of abandoning both Israel and Australia’s Jewish community.

Burke swiftly pushed back, downplaying Netanyahu’s accusations as nothing more than “lashing out.” He reminded Australians that Israel had directed similar fury at Britain, France, and Canada after they recognised Palestinian statehood, and defended Albanese’s stance as principled. “Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,” Burke said. “Strength is much better measured by exactly what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has done, which is when there’s a decision that we know Israel won’t like, but we do it because it is right.”

Netanyahu’s outburst was no routine diplomatic skirmish. It was a calculated act of bullying by a foreign leader whose authority rests on decades of repression and ethnic cleansing. The attack was not just on Albanese, but on Australia itself—its sovereignty, multicultural identity, and moral standing in the world.

For years, Netanyahu has perfected a strategy of silencing critics: smear them as weak, antisemitic, or disloyal while doubling down on his own catalogue of crimes. By accusing Albanese of betrayal, he once again seeks to recast himself as the victim even as his government carries out mass slaughter in Gaza.

This attack amounts to nothing more than projection from a man presiding over what human rights groups, the UN, and legal experts describe as apartheid and genocide. His fury at Australia is not about “abandonment.” It is about fear—fear that Western democracies, once unquestioning allies, are beginning to see Israel for what it truly is: an illegal ethno-colonial state built on dispossession, occupation, and the blood of Palestinians.

Netanyahu’s tirade underscores what has long been true -the Nakba of 1948 never ended. For 76 years, Palestinians have endured forced displacement, home demolitions, military occupation, checkpoints, and recurring massacres.

The assault on Gaza is only the most visible chapter in this long history of dispossession.

Australia cannot continue to turn a blind eye. Silence is complicity, and complicity has already cost tens of thousands of Palestinian lives, many of them children. Netanyahu’s war machine is not protecting Israel—it is enforcing subjugation, ethnic supremacy, and the slow-motion destruction of the Palestinian people.

Which is why Albanese must demonstrate leadership. He cannot duck or weave. To remain silent would confirm Netanyahu’s narrative—that Australia can be intimidated into compliance, that its leaders will fold under pressure. Instead, Albanese must declare without hesitation:

• Australia will not be lectured by an apartheid regime.

• It stands for humanity, equality, and racial tolerance.

• It rejects Israel’s campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

• And it will not be complicit in war crimes or the mass murder of civilians.

Making clear to Netanyahu what Australia will not tolerate would not be reckless—it would be essential. Should Albanese cast aside the false comfort of diplomatic caution, he would show the world that Australia is a nation of principle, not a vassal state to be cowed by Netanyahu’s bullying.

Netanyahu’s attack is about more than Albanese. It is about what kind of country Australia wants to be. Do we remain shackled to a pariah state that has made a mockery of international law, or do we stand as a moral actor globally?

Albanese often speaks of Australia as a multicultural democracy rooted in tolerance. But those words will mean little if his government continues to provide cover for genocide. Australians know this—hundreds of thousands have marched for Palestine, demanding justice and an end to complicity. Albanese’s silence would not just anger them; it would betray them.

Netanyahu is betting Albanese will remain cautious, issuing only muted diplomatic language. But this is precisely what makes the moment so dangerous. If Albanese retreats into vagueness, it will embolden Netanyahu and signal to the world that even democratic leaders can be cowed by smear campaigns.

Now is the time for Albanese to show his strength and be the leader Australians can be proud of. Australia has nothing to gain from appeasing Israel’s extremist government. But it has everything to gain from aligning with international law, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with countries like South Africa, Ireland, Spain, and the growing bloc demanding accountability for Israeli war crimes.

It’s not the time to be timid. If Albanese’s advisers counsel caution, then he must reject those voices of weakness. History is watching. Just as leaders were judged by their stance on apartheid South Africa, so too will they be judged on Israel’s apartheid and genocide.

Netanyahu has revealed himself to be a desperate tyrant, lashing out at anyone who refuses to bow to his agenda of ethnic supremacy and mass violence. His attack on Albanese is more than a personal insult—it is an attack on Australian independence, values, and democracy itself. Albanese must decide whether to cower or confront.

The only acceptable path is to come out swinging: to call Israel what it is—an apartheid, ethno-colonial state guilty of genocide—and to assert that Australia will never be a party to crimes against humanity.

This fight is not just between two leaders but a fight for Australia’s moral soul.