Albanese raises 'respect' issue after Netanyahu's extraordinary personal attack

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has subtly retaliated at his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu for calling him a "weak politician".

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he treats world leaders "with respect" as diplomatic relations with Benjamin Netanyahu deteriorate after the Israeli leader's extraordinary personal attack.

Netanyahu publicly accused Albanese of betrayal overnight over his promised recognition of a Palestinian state and the denial of a visa to a far-right Israeli politician, which saw Israel boot Australia's representatives from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

"History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews," Netanyahu said in a post on X.

READ MORE: Young kids hide, man dies in childcare centre

Netanyahu also penned a scathing letter to Albanese, which was shared by the Australian Jewish Association, saying that his support for a Palestinian state "pours fuel on this antisemitic fire" and giving him a deadline to reverse his position.

"Prime Minister, antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent. It retracts when leaders act. I call upon you to replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve, and to do so by a clear date: the Jewish New Year, September 23, 2025," he wrote.

"History will not forgive hesitation. It will honour action." 

Responding to the remarks today, Albanese said: "I treat leaders of other countries with respect and I engage with them in a diplomatic way."

"I don't take these things personally," he told the media from Adelaide today.

"He has had similar things to say about other leaders.

"What I say is that Israel, increasingly, there is global concern because people want to see an end to the cycle of violence that we have seen for far too long. That is what Australians want to see as well."

READ MORE: Fertility giant to keep review secret after two IVF bungles

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley yesterday said the prime minister deserved respect but described it as a "two-way street" and pushed Albanese to "explain how he is going to repair this relationship, which is now in tatters as a result of his failures of leadership".

"Anthony Albanese has mismanaged international relationships to the point where he now finds himself at the centre of a troubling diplomatic incident," she said in a statement.

"This is a direct consequence of bad decisions he and his government have taken that do not advance Australia's interests."

Albanese said he would repair Australia's relationship with Israel by continuing to put forward Australia's position.

"Australians want those two things. They want the cycle of violence to stop, and they do not want conflict brought here," he said.

"That is very clear, and that has been the response from leaders of the community who have contacted me, including today, contacted me to say that."

READ MORE: Premier's secret lover showed no remorse, magistrate said

Earlier this morning, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke came to the prime minister's defence to accuse Netanyahu of "lashing out".

"Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up, or how many children you can leave hungry," he told ABC RN Breakfast.

"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, he goes straight to Benjamin Netanyahu."

Burke added that Netanyahu's criticism was further isolating Israel from the world.

"That is not in their interests either," he said. 

READ MORE: Australia hurtling towards hidden crisis

Israeli opposition critical over Netanyahu's comment

Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid lashed out at Netanyahu over the comment.

"The thing that strengthens a leader in the democratic world today most is a confrontation with Netanyahu, the most politically toxic leader in the Western world," he said, on X. 

"It is unclear why Bibi is in such a hurry to give the Australian prime minister this gift."

Hours earlier, Australian Finance Minister Katy Gallagher denied Australia's relationship with Israel was broken and said Canberra was not trying to isolate Netanyahu's government.

"No, that is not the basis of the decisions that we've taken, we've taken decisions about recognition of the Palestinian state, based on, well, a frame view of a two-state solution and a pathway to peace," she said.

"We want diplomatic and open channels of discussion with the Israeli government. 

"The PM takes it seriously, and that's why we had those conversations, no matter how difficult they are with the prime minister and the prime minister of Israel."

READ MORE: Trump official revokes security clearances of 37 national security officers

Australia and Israel fall out in diplomatic stoush

On Monday night, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced the country had revoked the visas of Australia's representatives based in Palestine's West Bank, accusing Australia of antisemitism.

He blamed the promised Palestinian recognition and the denial of a visa for Israeli lawmaker SimPrime cha Rothman, a member of the Religious Zionism party, which supports the continuation of the war, the mass relocation of Palestinians through what it describes as voluntary migration and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it was an "unjustified reaction" and accused the Netanyahu government of "isolating Israel and undermining international efforts towards peace and a two-state solution".

Netanyahu's post yesterday is far from the first criticism from Israel since Albanese announced plans to follow France, the UK and Canada in recognising Palestine at the next United Nations General Assembly in September in New York. 

But coming from the country's most powerful politician, it's a significant escalation in the deterioration of diplomatic ties between two allies.

READ MORE: Australia hurtling towards hidden crisis

Death toll in Gaza rises to 62,000

Gaza's Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, said the Palestinian death toll from 22 months of war has passed 62,000.

It does not say how many were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half the dead. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties.

Israel announced plans to reoccupy Gaza City and other heavily populated areas after ceasefire talks stalled last month, raising the possibility of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which experts say is sliding into famine.

Netanyahu has dismissed reports of starvation in Gaza as "lies" promoted by Hamas.

But the UN last week warned that starvation and malnutrition in the occupied Palestinian territory are at their highest levels since the war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which the militants abducted 251 people and killed about 1200, mostly civilians.

READ MORE: Plane forced to land in Italy after flames erupt mid-air

Hamas says it has accepted a new Arab proposal in Gaza ceasefire talks

Hamas on Tuesday said it had accepted a proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire.

Israel has not yet responded and says it is still committed to defeating the militant group.

The latest proposal developed by Egypt and Qatar contains only slight modifications to an earlier one advanced by the United States and accepted by Israel, according to Egyptian and Hamas officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

The deal would include a 60-day truce, the release of some of the hostages held by Hamas in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, a flood of humanitarian aid into Gaza and talks on a lasting ceasefire.

Israel has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is disarmed.

US President Donald Trump gave support to those goals on Monday in a social media post, saying Hamas must be "confronted and destroyed" to ensure the return of the remaining hostages.

Netanyahu has said that while he will halt the fighting temporarily to facilitate the release of hostages, he will not end the war until Hamas has been defeated and disarmed.

- with Associated Press

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.