Michaelia Cash walks back error in criticism of Labor’s Israel approach
After being contacted by Capital Brief, the new Coalition foreign affairs spokeswoman edited and reissued a statement containing incorrect claims.
New Coalition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash has been forced to clarify after she incorrectly claimed the government had banned Israel’s deputy foreign minister from entering Australia.
Australia’s decision to sanction two far-right Israeli ministers has angered both Israel and the US, just days before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to meet US President Donald Trump for the first time.
In a statement responding to the sanctions, Cash said Labor must clarify its level of engagement with the Trump administration before making the announcement. She also criticised what she described as a “pattern of decisions” targeting the Israeli government “rather than Hamas”.
“[This is] including the decision to block the Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister [Sharren Haskel] from travelling to Australia and the refusal to rule out arresting the Prime Minister of Israel [Benjamin Netanyahu],” she said.
