Turnbull Tells Netanyahu to ‘Stay Out of Our Politics’ After Comments on Bondi Attack

Australia’s former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him to “stay out of our politics” after Netanyahu linked Australia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood to the deadly Bondi Beach mass shooting.

Fifteen people were killed on Sunday evening when a father and son opened fire on crowds celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach. Israeli authorities later identified the attackers as Sajid Akram and his son Naveed, saying they were driven by Daesh ideology.

In remarks following the attack, Netanyahu said Australia’s decision earlier this year to recognise Palestinian statehood had poured “oil on the fire of antisemitism” in the weeks leading up to the violence. He said he had written to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese months earlier warning that the policy would inflame antisemitism. “Antisemitism is a cancer that spreads when leaders are silent,” Netanyahu said.

Responding in an interview with Channel 4 News in the UK, Turnbull rejected the Israeli leader’s comments. “I would respectfully say to Bibi Netanyahu, please stay out of our politics,” he said. “If you’ve got that kind of commentary to make, you are not helping … and it’s not right.”

Turnbull defended the Albanese government’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood in August, noting that many Western nations had taken the same step amid growing international pressure over the war in Gaza. He said the vast majority of countries recognise Palestine and support a two-state solution.

“Australia is a very successful multicultural society,” Turnbull said, adding that the country could not allow foreign conflicts to be imported. “We need to ensure that wars in the Middle East, or wars in any other part of the world, are not fought out here. Trying to link them, which is what Netanyahu has done, is not helpful.”

Prime Minister Albanese also rejected any connection between his government’s stance on Palestine and the Bondi attack. “Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognises a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East,” he said. “This is a moment of national unity where we need to come together. We need to wrap our arms around members of the Jewish community who are going through an extraordinarily difficult period.”

Albanese on Tuesday visited in hospital Ahmed Al-Ahmed, a shopkeeper who moved to Australia from Syria in 2007 and was hailed as a hero for disarming one of the attackers. Al-Ahmed is recovering from his injuries.