A senior Israeli government minister has criticised as “concerning” a new Labor publication produced for politicians who visit the only democracy in the Middle East.
Ze’ev Elkin, who met Foreign Minister Julie Bishop last week, told The Australian it was ridiculous to enforce requirements on how much time MPs spend in Israel and the Palestinian Territories and said anti-Israeli sentiment was the new politically correct form of anti-Semitism.
“You can see in Europe, what began as BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) activity against the state of Israel (escalated) and there was a terrorist attack on Jewish communities in France,” said Mr Elkin, the Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and a security cabinet member.
“In this context, when we are looking in the last year at the increase in anti-Israeli activity in Australia — of course it’s not the mainstream of Australian society or political establishment, but it’s a concern.”
Read the article by Sharri Markson in The Australian.