Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar decided on Monday to revoke the residency visas of Australia’s representatives to the Palestinian Authority, hours after Canberra barred an Israeli lawmaker from entering the country.

Australia announced on Monday morning that it was banning far-right Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman from visiting the country, hours before he was supposed to travel there for a series of appearances.

Both Australian diplomats representing Canberra to the PA live in Israel, despite holding offices in Ramallah, according to Channel 12 news.

Sa’ar accused the Australian government of fanning antisemitism and wrote on X that he had also instructed Israel’s embassy in Canberra “to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for entry to Israel.”

It was unclear if the policy would affect all Australian requests or only those from Australian officials.

The decision, which was presented to the Australian ambassador Monday afternoon, follows “Australia’s decisions to recognize a ‘Palestinian state'” in September, and the country’s “unjustified refusal to grant visas to a number of Israeli figures,” including former justice minister Ayelet Shaked and Rothman, who serves as chairman of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, said Sa’ar.

“While antisemitism is raging in Australia, including manifestations of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions, the Australian government is choosing to fuel it by false accusations, as if the visit of Israeli figures will disrupt public order and harm Australia’s Muslim population. It is shameful and unacceptable!” Sa’ar declared.

Rothman claimed in an interview with the Kan public broadcaster that the Australian government had been bullied by “Islamist jihadists into canceling his visa, and had “surrendered to terror.”

In a sharply worded Hebrew-language video message released by Sa’ar’s office shortly after the announcement, the minister declared that “Australia is acting against Israel, Australia is persecuting Israel,” and said that its move to bar Israeli individuals “must be understood in this context.”

I decided to revoke the visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority. The Australian Ambassador to Israel was just notified on the matter.

I also instructed the Israeli Embassy in Canberra to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for…

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) August 18, 2025

Israel would “take additional measures” in response to the decision, Sa’ar warned. “To be continued.”

Rothman, a far-right lawmaker, had been slated to make a series of appearances at Jewish schools and synagogues and meet with victims of a recent wave of antisemitic attacks, according to the Australian Jewish Association, which invited him and confirmed that Rothman’s visa had been canceled.

“If you are coming to Australia to spread a message of hate and division, we don’t want you here,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had said when announcing the decision to cancel Rothman’s visa. “Australia will be a country where everyone can be safe, and feel safe.”

As an automatic condition of the visa cancellation, Rothman is unable to travel to Australia for three years. It was unclear which, if any, specific actions or comments by Rothman had triggered the move by Canberra.

The Australian government has taken an increasingly critical stance toward Israel in recent weeks, including announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state next month, alongside a number of other Western nations.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said recognition of a Palestinian state will follow certain conditions, such as reform of the Palestinian Authority, demilitarization, as well as guarantees that Hamas will “have no part” in its government.

In an interview with Sky News Australia on Sunday, Albanese said that his government firmly backs the country’s long-term support for a two-state solution, and said that “one of these states is Israel,” which “needs to continue to exist, but exist in a secure way.”

The Australian premier said that this security will only come from “recognition by the countries around Israel,” and that the international community cannot “continue with the cycle of violence” that has plagued both Israelis and Palestinians for decades.

“What we need is a realization of the vision that was there from the beginning, which is two states,” he said.

Israel has condemned the recent wave of recognition as a “reward for terror,” and has accused the countries that announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state of being antisemitic.