Israel expresses outrage at Australia's decision to deny a visa to its ...
The Israeli government has expressed outrage at Australia's decision to deny a visa to Israel's former justice minister, Ayelet Shaked.
Ms Shaked, a right-wing politician who left parliament in 2022, had applied to attend a security conference in Canberra and other events organised by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's office confirmed her visa application had been rejected, without specifying why.
The Australian newspaper reported Ms Shaked was "barred under sections of the Migration Act allowing the minister to refuse to grant a visa if he believes the applicant could 'vilify a segment of the Australian community, or incite discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community.'"
"The issue here is not that I didn't get a visa. The issue here is that the current Australian government has become anti-Semitic," Ms Shaked said on the social media platform X.
In a video message posted by AIJAC, Ms Shaked promised Australia's Jewish community that she would visit "in a better days".
"Australia and Israel have always had a very warm relationship, and this current anti-Israeli government will be, in the end, just an anti-Semitic anecdote in the relationship between the two countries," she said.
Ms Shaked told Israel's Channel 12 her visa had been refused "for political reasons and because I oppose a Palestinian state".
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said the decision was "unacceptable".
"The decision is deeply offensive and troubling and will have a negative impact on Australia-Israel relations," MFA spokesman Oren Marmorstein said.
AIJAC's executive director Colin Rubinstein called the refusal "cynical".
"The decision to refuse a visa to former Israeli justice and interior minister Ayelet Shaked on the grounds that she would vilify Australians and incite discord among the community is a disgraceful act of hostility towards a democratic ally," he said.
Tony Burke's office confirmed the visa was rejected. (AAP: Mick Tsikas)
Ms Shaked has attracted controversy and condemnation for some of her public statements, including telling Israeli television network Channel 13 last November the Gazan city of Khan Younis should be turned into a soccer field, and implying that Palestinians should be forced out of the territory.
"We need to take advantage of the destruction that we will wreak upon them in order to tell the countries of the world that each of them should take a quota. We need 2 million to leave. In all honestly, that's the solution for Gaza," she said.
The Australian Centre for International Justice said the Australian government had made the correct decision to refuse Ms Shaked's visa.
"Shaked has a deeply concerning history of making offensive public statements, including those which may amount to incitement to genocide, a prosecutable offence in Australia, as well as other statements of extraordinary racial hatred towards Palestinians during her time as a member of the Knesset, interior and justice minister and public figure in Israel," it said.
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