Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday held a government meeting in Dimona, slamming Australia's government for enabling the recent terror attacks on Jews in Melbourne and Sydney, and promising that Israel will deal harshly with terrorists.
Among those murdered in a massacre at a Sydney Hanukkah event was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a Chabad emissary. At least nine others were also murdered in the massacre, and dozens were injured.
"On August 17, about four months ago, I sent Prime Minister Albanese of Australia a letter in which I gave him warning that the Australian government's policy was promoting and encouraging antisemitism in Australia," Netanyahu said at the meeting.
"I wrote: 'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets.' Antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent; it retreats when leaders act. I call upon you to replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve.
"Instead, Prime Minister, you replaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement. Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country. You took no action. You let the disease spread and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today."
Praising the civilian who stopped the Sydney terrorist's murderous rampage, he said, "We saw an action of a brave man -- turns out a Muslim brave man, and I salute him -- that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews. But it requires the action of your government, which you are not taking. And you have to, because history will not forgive hesitation and weakness. It will honor action and strength."
"That's what Israel expects of each of your governments in the West and elsewhere. Because the disease spreads and it will consume you as well. But we are worrying right now about our people, our safety, and we do not remain silent. We fight those who try to annihilate us.
"They're not only trying to annihilate us. They attack us because they attack the West. In Syria we saw yesterday two American soldiers killed and one American interpreter killed as well. Killed because they represent our common culture.
"Now as a result of this, [US] Secretary of War Peter Hegseth said the following. He said, let it be known that if you target Americans anywhere in the world, you will spend the rest of your brief anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you and ruthlessly kill you.
"We send our condolences to the people of America and I want to say that our policy is exactly that policy. That's why those who target Israelis, target our soldiers, try to kill them or try to hurt them and wound them, as happened in Gaza yesterday, we take action. They will spend the rest of their brief anxious lives knowing that Israel will hunt them, find them and ruthlessly dispose of them. That is American policy, this is Israel's policy. It's our policy in Gaza, in Lebanon, anywhere around us. We do not sit by and let these killers kill us."