Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal attack on Anthony Albanese as “weak” marks a new low in Australia-Israel relations.

Relations between the two nations, which have been historic allies since the establishment of Israel after World War II, have been deteriorating for more than a year.

Following the brutal attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel had enormous sympathy from the international community. The horrific images of people being attacked, kidnapped and killed drew widespread condemnation.

But Israel’s unrelenting, scorched-earth approach to Gaza since then has done enormous damage to that global goodwill, and contributed directly to Albanese’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations next month.

The government’s decision to bar far-right Israeli MP Simcha Rothman from entering the country escalated tensions between the two nations to another level.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has form in cancelling visas for people he believes could damage social cohesion in Australia. This includes rapper Kanye West because of his antisemitic remarks.

Of course, there is a big difference between denying a celebrity rapper a visa and denying a member of another nation’s parliament, and Israel’s tit-for-tat response to the Rothman decision – revoking visas to Australian diplomats working in the occupied West Bank – was arguably a proportional diplomatic response.

Netanyahu’s furious personal attack on Albanese, including calling him a “weak” politician who had abandoned Australia’s Jews, was not.