Australia Cancels Far-right Israeli Lawmaker’s Visa

Australia has cancelled the visa of an Israeli lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition who has advocated against Palestinian statehood and called for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank.

Simcha Rothman, a Knesset member from the Religious Zionism party led by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, was scheduled to visit Sydney and Melbourne this month at the invitation of a local conservative Jewish organization, Reuters reported.

Australia is among countries set to recognize a Palestinian state next month, a decision that Rothman said would be a “grave mistake and a huge reward for Hamas and for terror”.

In June, Australia, along with four other nations including Britain, sanctioned Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over accusations of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Rothman said that he was informed his visa had been cancelled due to remarks the Australian government considered controversial and inflammatory, including his claim Palestinian statehood would lead to the destruction of the State of Israel and his call for Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

“Nothing that I said personally has not been said over and over again by the vast majority of the public in Israel and the Government of Israel,” Rothman told Reuters by phone on Monday.