Australia has barred a far-right MK just hours before he was due to visit the country and meet victims of a wave of recent antisemitic attacks.
Simcha Rothman, of the Religious Zionism party, was invited by a conservative Jewish community body, the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), to tour schools and synagogues affected by attacks.
But, per The Guardian, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has blocked the MK from entering the country over his past rhetoric.
Rothman is an advocate of West Bank annexation and has previously accused anti-government protestors in Israel of adopting "the playbook of the anti-Israel and pro-Hamas movement".
"Our government takes a hard line on people who seek to come to our country and spread division," said Burke.
"If you are coming to Australia to spread a message of hate and division, we don’t want you here."
Rothman’s visa for the planned trip was cancelled and he was also banned from entering Australia for three years.
The AJA voiced its discontent with the move, with its director Robert Gregory saying: "This is a viciously antisemitic move from a government that is obsessed with targeting the Jewish community and Israel.
"Israel is fully justified in taking strong measures in response to this and we have briefed contacts in the Trump Administration who are also concerned about events in Australia."
Rothman, meanwhile, said: "This decision by the Australian government is essentially caving to terror. There is no other way to see it. The messages they accused me of spreading are simply that Hamas is bad and Israel is good – positions that enjoy broad consensus in Israel and in any freedom-loving country.”
And Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli claimed that the decision “reflects a broken moral compass, discrimination and a grave assault on free speech”.
Australia has seen a sharp rise in high-profile antisemitic attacks since October 7, including the firebombing of a synagogue and a Jewish nursery.
Authorities are reportedly examining the theory that some of the attacks were perpetrated by petty criminals paid off by a foreign power, most likely Iran.
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