Tony Burke has failed to directly condemn a preacher in his electorate who said he was elated at the murder of Israelis, as the head of the nation’s peak Jewish body called on the Workplace Relations Minister to “repudiate this incitement in the harshest and clearest terms”.
Mr Burke and his fellow senior cabinet colleague from Western Sydney, Energy Minister Chris Bowen, have been silent for days about the attacks on Israel, and behaviour from members of their electorates.
Mr Bowen also failed to make any direct, full-throated condemnation of Hamas or its supporters in Australia, saying only that he supported Anthony Albanese’s position.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co chief executive Alex Ryvchin blasted Mr Burke for failing to directly condemn pro-Palestinian rallies in his Western Sydney electorate, saying his silence showed “a complete lack of leadership when it is needed most”.
The criticism comes after a rally took place in Lakemba in Mr Burke‘s southwest Sydney in which speakers described attacks on Israel as an act of “courage” and “resistance”, days after one of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in history.
Mr Ryvchin called for Mr Burke to “repudiate this incitement in the harshest and clearest terms”.
“The fact that Tony Burke has said nothing about what took place in his electorate shows a complete lack of leadership when it is needed most,“ he told The Australian.
Read the article by Jess Malcolm in The Australian.