Netanyahu thanked Israel’s allies in the US and Australia for standing with Israel through challenges.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended President Donald Trump for his sharp condemnation of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic threats.
During his address on Wednesday to the Jewish community in Sydney, Australia, Netanyahu said Jews still face “a battle against those who seek to demonize our people and the resurgent anti-Semitism that we see in many parts of the world. It is something that we need to fight together.”
“I think this is important in Europe. It’s important in America. It’s very important that President Trump took a strong stand against anti-Semitism. And it’s important that we all continue to do so in the years ahead,” Netanyahu stated.
On Tuesday, Trump denounced anti-Semitism and threats against Jewish community centers as “horrible” and “painful,” saying more needed to be done “to root out hate and prejudice and evil.”
Speaking after a tour of the newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture on Tuesday, Trump said that “this tour was a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all of its very ugly forms.”
He was relating to the latest round of threats phoned in to 11 Jewish community centers across the US on Monday, including Chicago, Cleveland and Houston.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) headquarters and another Jewish school were since targeted with bomb threats on Wednesday, the fifth such recent wave.
Australia – ‘No Better Friend for the State of Israel’
Netanyahu also praised Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for standing alongside Israel in the face of the United Nations’ bias and obsession with the Jewish state.
Israel is “much maligned in the United Nations,” Netanyahu pointed out. “I salute you, Malcolm Turnbull, and the governments of Australia who have stood up time and time again against this demonization, including recently. You refuse to accept this hypocrisy.”
“Standing up for Israel means standing up for simple truths. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have our imperfections. Which country is perfect? Well, Australia is pretty close, but none of us are perfect. But we seek all the time to improve. We seek all the time to do better,” Netanyahu declared.
Former Australian prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott were also present at the synagogue for Netanyahu’s address along with hundreds of members of the Jewish community.
“There is no better friend for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu declared of Australia’s alliance with the Jewish state.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel