(MENAFN) Australia responded sharply on Wednesday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following his harsh criticism of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after Canberra announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.

In an interview with local media, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Netanyahu had “lashed out” at countries supporting Palestinian statehood, but emphasized that Australia would not be swayed by such attacks.

"Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry," Burke stated. He added, “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.”

The remarks followed Netanyahu’s office posting on a social media platform that Albanese is a “weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”

Burke also defended Australia’s recent move to cancel the visa of far-right Israeli Knesset member Simcha Rothman ahead of his speaking tour this month, citing Rothman’s past statements referring to children in Gaza as the “enemies” of Israel.

“If anyone wanted to come on a public speech tour, and they had those views publicly expressed about Israeli children, I would block the visa,” Burke said. He added, “I am going to not have a lower bar for the protection of views that are bigoted views against the Palestinian people.”

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