Australian minister says he denied ex-Israeli minister visa over 'social cohesion' concerns

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA)- Australian Home Minister Tony Burke on Sunday defended his decision to deny a former Israeli minister a visa to come to Australia, saying her visit could have threatened "social cohesion."

In his first public comments on the matter, Burke said that Ayelet Shaked, a right-wing politician who left parliament in 2022, had not sought a visa on behalf of the Israeli government and was planning to travel to Australia for a public speaking tour.

Shaked, a former justice minister, accused the Australian government of antisemitism after her visa was rejected last month.

She had applied to attend a security conference in Canberra and other events organized by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).

"My department has been refusing visas of people who want to come here and talk about the conflict if we think that they are going to seriously undermine social cohesion when they're here," Burke said in an interview with Sky News.

"Let me put it in these terms, if somebody came here … wanting to make public statements and their previous public statements had included that they wanted all the Jews to leave Israel … I would not give them a visa.

"Ms Shaked has said that all the Palestinians should leave Gaza, " Burke said, referring to a series of Shaked's past comments, including an interview last year in which she said the Gazan city of Khan Younis should be turned into a soccer field.

"My view is really simple: If you're simply coming here to demean people, we can do without you," Burke maintained.

“Whether those hatreds are demeaning of Israelis or demeaning of Palestinians, I'm going to have the exact same hard line," he said.