Australian minister says ‘strength not measured by how many people you can blow up’ as row with Netanyahu escalates

Australian home affairs minister’s criticism comes after Israeli prime minister calls Anthony Albanese a ‘weak politician who betrayed Israel’

• Netanyahu lashes out at Albanese

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Australia’s government has rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s incendiary criticism and accused some Israeli politicians of “bigoted” views about Palestinians as the extraordinary political fight between the two nations turns uglier.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke – whose refusal of a travel visa for the far-right Knesset member Simcha Rothman stoked criticism from Jerusalem – backed in his decision and criticised the Israeli prime minister over the war in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israel’s military and bombing campaign.