Israel Pulls Australian Officials’ Visas Amid Diplomatic Rift

Israel announced it will revoke the residency visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in response to Australia’s increasing hostility toward the Jewish state, further escalating tensions as relations between the two countries deteriorate.

“I decided to revoke the visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a post on X on Monday.

“I also instructed the Israeli Embassy in Canberra to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for entry to Israel,” he continued.

In his statement, Saar linked this latest decision to Australia’s announcement last week that it intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September.

He also said this move follows “Australia’s unjustified refusal to grant visas to a number of Israeli figures,” among them former Minister Ayelet Shaked and Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman.

Rothman’s visa was denied this week, only a day before he was set to travel to Australia for community events.

“If you come here to spread hate and division, we don’t want you,” Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement about Rothman’s visa denial.

He also noted that Rothman would not be eligible to reapply for another three years, stressing Australia’s commitment to being a place where “everyone can feel safe.”

Australian officials have argued that Rothman’s visit could offend the country’s Muslim population, drawing condemnation from the local Jewish community and Israeli leaders, who accused the government of being lenient toward Hamas supporters while barring a senior Israeli lawmaker.

“While antisemitism is raging in Australia, including manifestations of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions, the Australian government is choosing to fuel it by false accusations, as if the visit of Israeli figures will disrupt public order and harm Australia’s Muslim population,” Saar said in his post on X. “It is shameful and unacceptable!”

Last week, Australia announced it will formally recognize a Palestinian state during the United Nations General Assembly’s annual debate next month, joining a growing list of European nations backing the move despite sharp criticism from Israeli leaders and the country’s Jewish community.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as “humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering, and starvation in Gaza.”

Albanese also said he had received assurances from the PA — which has governed much of the West Bank without holding elections for two decades — that there would be “no role for the terrorists of Hamas in any future Palestinian state.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned Australia’s decision, calling it “a reward for terror, a prize for the enemies of freedom, liberty, and democracy.”

“This is a grave and dangerous mistake, which will not help a single Palestinian and sadly will not bring back a single hostage,” the Israeli leader said during a press conference, referring to the dozens of Israeli hostages still being held by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

Ties between Israel and Australia have soured since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, with Canberra becoming one of the country’s most outspoken critics on the global stage.

Meanwhile, antisemitism spiked to record levels in Australia — especially in Sydney and Melbourne, which are home to some 85 percent of the country’s Jewish population — following the start of the war in Gaza.

According to a report from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), antisemitism quadrupled to record levels following the Oct. 7 atrocities, with Australian Jews experiencing more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents between October 2023 and September 2024.

Israeli leaders have condemned Australian officials for anti-Israel bias and inaction on antisemitism, while the country’s Jewish community has consistently called for stronger measures to combat the growing wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes.

On Monday, an Israeli man looking for a haircut in Melbourne was turned away after the salon owner recognized his accent and accused him of being a “baby killer” responsible for “genocide in Gaza.”

In recent months, several Jewish sites in Australia — including schools, synagogues, homes, and cars — have been targeted with vandalism and even arson.