Portside

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not satisfied with Israel's seven war fronts over the last two years. He seems very determined to declare war on the entire world, and in the process drag the world's Jews, along with the State of Israel, into the abyss.

This week, it was the Australian prime minister's turn. A sharp diplomatic confrontation broke out between the two countries in the wake of Anthony Albanese's decision to recognize a Palestinian state. Netanyahu posted several deranged messages to Albanese on his X account, noting that history would remember Albanese as a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned his country's Jewish population.

Albanese has not betrayed Israel or Australia's Jews. As usual, Netanyahu is mirroring his own faults. He is the weak leader incapable of deciding anything, he is the one undermining Israel's standing in the world, and he is the person abandoning his own people. Netanyahu equates any criticism of his policies with antisemitism, thereby increasing hatred of Jews around the world. Statements like the one he just made do not decrease pressure on Australia's Jewish community – who are suffering from a wave of antisemitism – on the contrary.

The Australians are actually correct. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that Netanyahu's government is "isolating Israel and undermining international efforts towards peace and a two-state solution." Her statement came after Israel decided to revoke the visas of Australia's diplomatic representatives to the Palestinian Authority, in a vengeful response to the revoking of the visa of lawmaker Simcha Rothman, who represents Israel's delusional and messianic right-wing.

Australia said what the entire world is beginning to say: the State of Israel is not its destructive government. It has sane and healthy parts which could lead it on a path of recovery while abandoning its illusions of a Nakba and a transfer of Palestinians, returning to a diplomatic path ending in the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

In the meantime, the sanctions are directed at the Kahanists and their proxies in the Knesset and the government. The Israel of Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich is unwelcome. Abominable people will be boycotted until Israeli society can again distinguish between a state and a political gang.

Australia's Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, put it simply: "If you are coming to Australia to spread a message of hate and division, we don't want you here." He added that Rothman's presence could disrupt the upholding of law and order and lead to societal divisions and ignite further inflammatory declarations. All this is true. The world is fed up with crazy people from Israel.

There are two options: either Israel finally pulls into its defensible and normal borders, or the circles of condemnation will widen, culminating in the inclusion of all Israelis in the maligned group, indiscriminately.

It's unclear how long the world will continue distinguishing between the State of Israel and its government. It's possible that this distinction is already a thing of the past.

The above article is Haaretz's lead editorial, as published in the Hebrew and English newspapers in Israel.