Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has escalated his verbal assault on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the diplomatic relations between the pair continue to fray.

Albanese insisted he “doesn’t take these things personally” after Netanyahu publicly labelled him a “weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews” over his promised recognition of a Palestinian state and visa rejection for a far-right Israeli politician.

But Netanyahu has now come out again to echo his anger over Albanese’s “weakness” in a rare interview with an Australian news outlet.

“I’m sure he has a reputable record as a public servant, but I think his record is forever tarnished by the weakness that he showed in the face of these Hamas terrorist monsters,” Netanyahu told Sky News Australia in an interview set to air tonight.

“When the worst terrorist organisation on earth, these savages who murdered women, raped them, beheaded men, burnt babies alive in front of their parents, took hundreds of hostages, when these people congratulate the Prime Minister of Australia, you know something is wrong.”

Albanese has yet to respond to the latest remarks. 

The breakdown in relations comes in the wake of sanctions on two far-right Israeli politicians and the shift in position on Palestinian statehood. 

Australia joined the United Kingdom, Canada and France in promising to recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday retaliated by revoking the visas of Australian representatives in Palestine.

He also instructed the Israeli Embassy in Canberra to “carefully examine” any Australian visa application to Israel after Australia denied entry to Israeli lawmaker and member of the Religious Zionism Party Simcha Rotman, whose party supports the continuation of the war on Gaza, the mass relocation of Palestinians and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the move was an “unjustified reaction” and accused the Netanyahu government of “isolating Israel and undermining international efforts towards peace and a two-state solution”.

Netanyahu also penned a scathing letter to Albanese, shared by the Australian Jewish Association, in which he said the support for a Palestinian state “pours fuel on this antisemitic fire” and gave him a deadline to reverse his position.

“Prime Minister, antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent. It retracts when leaders act. I call upon you to replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve, and to do so by a clear date: the Jewish New Year, September 23, 2025,” Netanyahu wrote in a letter dated August 17.

“History will not forgive hesitation. It will honour action.” 

Then, in an extraordinary and public escalation, Netanyahu called Albanese a “weak politician”.

“History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews,” Netanyahu said in a post on X on Tuesday.

Albanese brushed off the personal attack and said: “I treat leaders of other countries with respect and I engage with them in a diplomatic way.”

“I don’t take these things personally. He has had similar things to say about other leaders,” he said yesterday.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke came out in the prime minister’s defence, telling the ABC: “Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up, or how many children you can leave hungry.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said that while the prime minister deserved respect, he had “mismanaged international relationships”.

“This is a direct consequence of bad decisions he and his government have taken that do not advance Australia’s interests,” she said.

But the opposition leader in Israel, Yair Lapid, has instead pointed the finger at Netanyahu for souring relations.

“The thing that strengthens a leader in the democratic world today most is a confrontation with Netanyahu, the most politically toxic leader in the Western world. It is unclear why Bibi is in such a hurry to give the Australian prime minister this gift,” Lapid said on X.