“Ms Shaked has said that all the Palestinians should leave Gaza. If somebody wanted to come here and had previously said that they had nominated specific cities in Israel and said they should be completely levelled, I wouldn’t give them a visa to come here and make speeches,” Burke told Sky News on Sunday.
Burke also criticised Shaked for making comments in which she appeared to describe Palestinian children as “little snakes” and said the Gazan city of Khan Younis should be turned into a soccer field.
Liberal senator Dave Sharma, who previously served as Australia’s ambassador to Israel, said it was “very unusual” for the Israeli government to call in an Australian diplomat for an official rebuke.
“Israel does not do this lightly, but it does not surprise me given the government seems to have gone out of its way to get offside with Israel,” he said.
On Wednesday, Australia voted in favour of a resolution at the United Nations that stressed “the need to urgently exert collective efforts to launch credible negotiations on all final status issues in the Middle East peace process”.
Australia’s ambassador to the United Nations James Larsen said Australia had supported such resolutions until 2001 and was reverting to that position.
A two-state solution remained the “only hope of breaking the endless cycle of violence, the only hope to see a secure and prosperous future for both peoples”, he said.
The resolution was carried with 157 votes in favour, including the United Kingdom, eight against, including the United States, and seven abstentions.
A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: “As a constructive middle power, Australia approaches UN resolutions to try to achieve the best outcomes we can.
“We don’t always get everything we want. But if, on balance, we believe the resolution will contribute to peace and a two-state solution, we will vote for it.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said that the government had “abandoned Israel” for electoral reasons.
“The Albanese government is chasing Greens votes and they’ve been prepared to sacrifice the wellbeing of the Jewish community here in Australia to do so,” he said.
Diplomatic relations between Australia and Israel have been tested by the former’s voting on UN resolutions over the past year, as well as Australia’s refusal two weeks ago to condemn the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Palestinian Authority’s top representative in Australia, Izzat Salah Abdulhadi, welcomed Australia’s decision, praising the government for breaking with Israel on several recent UN votes.
Colin Rubenstein, executive director of the Israel-Australia council that was to host Shaked, blasted the government for voting in favour of a resolution he called “woefully one-sided”, saying Australia had always voted no or abstained on similar resolutions for the past 20 years.
“By promising the Palestinians everything they want without imposing any obligations on them whatsoever, this resolution is simply a recipe for further conflict, not peace,” he said.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni praised the government for “aligning our nation with the overwhelming majority of the world in standing up for Palestinian justice and human rights, and accountability for Israel”.
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He called on the government to go further by imposing sanctions on Israel and a two-way arms embargo.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said: “These resolutions won’t bring about peace, all they do is reward terrorism.”
“This shift reflects a foreign policy approach increasingly disconnected from both the reality on the ground and Australia’s broader national interests,” Leibler said.
The progressive New Israel Fund Australia welcomed Australia’s vote at the UN, saying: “We have seen the consequences of the status quo laid bare, and they are: human misery, loss of life, unimaginable suffering.”
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