Netanyahu says Australian PM Albanese’s record ‘forever tarnished by weakness’ after Australian Jewish group urges calm

Israeli prime minister ignores pleas to resolve dispute with Australia through ‘diplomacy rather than public posturing’

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Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored pleas from Australian Jewish groups to calm his feud with Anthony Albanese, further criticising the prime minister and escalating an ugly spat between the two leaders.

Australia’s peak Jewish group, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), on Wednesday labelled Israeli prime minister Netanyahu’s attack on Albanese as “inflammatory and provocative”, and a “clumsy intervention” which had affected Australia’s Jewish community.