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Israel’s foreign minister has accused Penny Wong of abandoning Israel in its most difficult year during a phone conversation that turned sour overnight, deepening the diplomatic rift between the two nations, Israeli media has reported.
Hebrew news outlet Israel Hayom on Wednesday reported that Foreign Minister Wong and her counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar, were drawn into a “sharp verbal clash” over Australia’s diminishing support for Israel amid its war in Gaza.
Penny Wong arrived in London on Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, Sa’ar told Wong that he was disappointed Australia had distanced itself from Israel, withdrawing support for it in international forums, as the Middle East nation fought its most bitter enemies.
He also took issue with a speech Wong delivered last week, in which she said Australia expected Israel to comply with international law like authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China.
“Israel is a Western democratic state that upholds the rule of law, has an independent judiciary, and adheres to international law. In the past year, Israel has fought the radical axis led by Iran, which is supported by Russia and China,” Sa’ar said, according to the Israel Hayom report.
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After Wong’s comments infuriated Australia’s Jewish community, she told reporters that she was not drawing a moral equivalence between Israel, Russia and China, but arguing that Australia has an interest in ensuring that all nations comply with international law.
Australia has voted with the majority of United Nations members and against Israel in several recent UN General Assembly votes, and this month changed a two-decades-long record by voting in favour of a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza as soon as possible.
Netanyahu blasted the government in a personal intervention, using social media to call the vote a “scandalous decision” and accusing the Albanese government of “anti-Israel sentiment”. He was also furious about Australia’s decision to refuse a visa to former Israeli justice minister Ayelet Shaked on character grounds.