Albanese Dismisses Netanyahu’s Blame Over Sydney Attack

(MENAFN) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dismissed assertions from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Australia’s government policies were responsible for a fatal assault on a Jewish festive event near Sydney.

During a Hanukkah gathering in the well-known coastal suburb of Bondi Beach on Sunday, two Islamist attackers shot dead 15 people and injured dozens more. Following the incident, Netanyahu argued that Australia’s decision earlier this year to recognize Palestinian statehood had “poured fuel” on an “antisemitic fire.”

In an interview with a broadcaster on Monday, Albanese said he rejected the suggestion that Australia’s foreign policy choices had any connection to the violence.

”And overwhelmingly, most of the world recognizes a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East,” he said.

The prime minister also brushed aside attempts to associate the Bondi killings with Muslim immigration. He pointed out that a Muslim resident intervened during the attack, tackling one of the gunmen and seizing his weapon—an act authorities say prevented further loss of life.

Australia officially acknowledged the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September, aligning itself with several other nations amid increasing global unease over Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

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