Mark Riley: Benjamin Netanyahu’s attack on allies serves only to isolate his nation even further

Benjamin Netanyahu is lashing out. Facing growing momentum in the international community towards the recognition of a Palestinian state, the Israeli Prime Minister has decided that the best form of defence is attack. And he is using every diplomatic weapon at his disposal including the dirtiest of dirty bombs — accusing international governments of fuelling anti-Semitism. But it isn’t working. Indeed, it is backfiring. Badly. Bibi is going the full Donald but he’s looking less like a Trump and more of a chump. His disproportionate and indiscriminate response to the calls for Palestinian sovereignty are leaving him and his Government increasingly more isolated among its long-time international allies. He is trying to engage world leaders in a no-holds-barred, down-and-dirty rhetorical cage match and they are trying not to play. In the face of this biblical attack, Anthony Albanese chose this week to turn the other cheek. Netanyahu skipped statesmanship and went straight to public abuse, posting on social media: “History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.” Even Australia’s Jews didn’t agree with that. The Executive Council of Jewry described Netanyahu’s spray as “inflammatory”, “provocative” and demonstrating “a woeful lack of understanding of social and political conditions in Australia”. It is a good point. We’ve just had an election here where the Opposition Leader consistently targeted the Prime Minister as “weak” and himself as “strong”. The “weak” guy won. In a landslide. He now commands a record-breaking 51-seat majority in the House of Representatives. The “strong” guy lost the election and his own seat. Albanese left it to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to hit back. “Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,” Burke said. Burke pointed out that Albanese had called Netanyahu and explained why he was preparing to recognise a Palestinian state before he made the public announcement. Contrary to Netanyahu’s scorching claim that it would play into the hands of the terrorists, Albanese had made clear that Australia’s support was conditional on Hamas playing no role in any future Palestinian government. The Netanyahu tongue-lashing puts Albanese in good company. The Israeli PM has said similar things and worse about other countries which are planning to use the United Nations’ annual General Assembly next month to formally recognise Palestine’s rights to sovereignty. He accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “fuelling the anti-Semitic fire”, called Britain’s Sir Keir Starmer an “appeaser” and claimed Canadian PM Mark Carney was “attacking the one and only Jewish state”. Netanyahu doubled down against Albanese in an interview on Sky, claiming he would be “forever tarnished by the weakness he has shown in the face of these Hamas terrorist monsters”. But there is a sneaking suspicion that this sudden burst of oratorical overkill might have another objective. Netanyahu is giving Israel’s allies a gobful at the same time as his army is launching one of the largest and most brutal assaults on Gaza since the war began. He has called up 60,000 military reservists to bolster a full-frontal attack on Gaza City, to finally run Hamas out of its rat holes. Tel Aviv hopes it will put the war it calls Operation Gideon’s Chariots into an end phase. But it will inevitably result in more innocent civilians dying. Arab leaders say almost 19,000 Palestinian children have been killed since the war was started by Hamas’ vile and despicable attacks on October 7, 2023. Hamas carries a heavy responsibility for that. It has secreted itself among Palestinian families from the outset, effectively using them as human shields. Its actions are beyond contempt. But the killing must end. Albanese and the other leaders believe offering the Palestinian people the hope of sovereignty will encourage them to rise up against Hamas and remove its murderous control. Almost 150 countries will vote at the UN next month in favour of taking that chance. That will leave Netanyahu even more isolated among the international community, though probably still with the powerful US by his side. And that is why he is lashing out. Mark Riley is the Seven Network’s political editor.