Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday stepped up his personal attacks on Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese over his government’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state, saying Albanese’s political record had been damaged forever.
Diplomatic ties between Australia and Israel have soured since Albanese’s centre-left Labor government last week announced it would conditionally recognise Palestinian statehood, following similar moves by France, Britain and Canada.
The decision prompted Netanyahu to launch a personal attack on Albanese and he doubled down on his condemnation in an interview
Albanese on Wednesday played down Netanyahu’s criticisms, saying he did not “take these things personally” and that he treated the leaders of other countries with respect