Anthony Albanese has maintained that there is no connection between Canberra’s recognition of Palestine and the Bondi Beach attack
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refuted the claim of his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that Canberra’s policies were responsible for a fatal attack on a Jewish holiday gathering near Sydney.
Two Islamist gunmen killed 15 people and injured dozens of others during a Hanukkah celebration in the famous Sydney suburb of Bondi Beach on Sunday. After that, Netanyahu said Australia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood earlier this year had “added fuel” to an “antisemitic blaze.”
Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday, Albanese said he did not accept that there was any link between the government’s foreign policy decisions and the attack.
”And by and large, most of the world acknowledges a two-state solution as the path forward in the Middle East,” he said.
Albanese also dismissed claims associating the Bondi massacre with Muslim immigration, pointing out that a local Muslim man had intervened during the attack by taking on one of the attackers and disarming him, an act that authorities say saved lives.
Australia officially recognized the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September, joining a number of countries that have taken this step amid increasing international concern over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Most countries in the world have formally recognized the State of Palestine, although key holdouts include the US and Israel, along with Germany, Italy, several other EU states, and countries like Japan and South Korea.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the October 2023 attack by Hamas and other militant groups. The campaign has since spread to regional strikes, while authorities in the Palestinian enclave say the death toll has exceeded 70,000, despite a US-backed ceasefire announced in October.