SYDNEY: Australia’s government defended its record on curbing antisemitism on Saturday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused it of anti-Israel policies, following an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue.
Netanyahu accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor government of encouraging crimes such as Friday’s attack on the Adass Israel synagogue through policies including support of a recent UN motion backing a Palestinian state.
“Unfortunately, this criminal act cannot be separated from the anti-Israel spirit blowing from the Labor government in Australia,” Netanyahu posted on X.
Murray Watt, Australia’s minister for employment and workplace relations, responded that “the Albanese Government has taken a range of strong actions to stand against antisemitism and to stamp it out from our community.”
Since taking office in May 2022, the government had provided $25 million to Jewish organizations to upgrade security and safety at Jewish sites, including schools, banned the Nazi salute and was taking action against hate speech, Watt said.
“I respectfully disagree with Prime Minister Netanyahu on this matter,” Watt said in Brisbane, according to a transcript.
Albanese condemned the attack on Friday, saying there was no place for antisemitism in Australia.
Police said on Saturday they were still looking for two people suspected of deliberately starting the synagogue fire that injured one and caused widespread damage in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023. Laws passed last year banned public displays of terror group symbols.
Some Jewish groups, however, say Albanese’s government has not done enough to tackle the rise of antisemitism.
Dozens of pro-Palestine protests over the past year have been largely peaceful, although the government raised concerns that protests could inflame community tensions and disrupt social harmony.
Australia defends action on antisemitism after Netanyahu criticism
https://arab.news/2gkjn
Australia defends action on antisemitism after Netanyahu criticism
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor government of encouraging crimes
- Australia has experienced a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023
Europeans push back at US over claim they face ‘civilizational erasure’
- “Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure,” Kallas told the conference
MUNICH: A top European Union official on Sunday rejected the notion that Europe faces “civilizational erasure,” pushing back at criticism of the continent by the Trump administration.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas addressed the Munich Security Conference a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a somewhat reassuring message to European allies. He struck a less aggressive tone than Vice President JD Vance did in lecturing them at the same gathering last year but maintained a firm tone on Washington’s intent to reshape the trans-Atlantic alliance and push its policy priorities.
Kallas alluded to criticism in the US national security strategy released in December, which asserted that economic stagnation in Europe “is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.” It suggested that Europe is being enfeebled by its immigration policies, declining birth rates, “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition” and a “loss of national identities and self-confidence.”
“Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure,” Kallas told the conference. “In fact, people still want to join our club and not just fellow Europeans,” she added, saying she was told when visiting Canada last year that many people there have an interest in joining the EU.
Kallas rejected what she called “European-bashing.”
“We are, you know, pushing humanity forward, trying to defend human rights and all this, which is actually bringing also prosperity for people. So that’s why it’s very hard for me to believe these accusations.”
In his conference speech, Rubio said that an end to the trans-Atlantic era “is neither our goal nor our wish,” adding that “our home may be in the Western hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.”
He made clear that the Trump administration is sticking to its guns on issues such as migration, trade and climate. And European officials who addressed the gathering made clear that they in turn will stand by their values, including their approach to free speech, climate change and free trade.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that Europe must defend “the vibrant, free and diverse societies that we represent, showing that people who look different to each other can live peacefully together, that this isn’t against the tenor of our times.”
“Rather, it is what makes us strong,” he said.
Kallas said Rubio’s speech sent an important message that America and Europe are and will remain intertwined.
“It is also clear that we don’t see eye to eye on all the issues and this will remain the case as well, but I think we can work from there,” she said.
