https://arab.news/ccgdt
Tragedies are not meant to be moments for scoring political points. When acts of terrorism occur, responsible leaders seek to calm tensions, unite their societies, express solidarity with victims’ families and visit the injured as a public display of empathy. Sadly, this kind of leadership was conspicuously absent in the response of Israel’s prime minister to Sunday’s deadly attack in Australia.
Before the facts were known, Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to make politically motivated and demonstrably false claims. He initially asserted that the tragedy would have been far worse had it not been for a heroic Jewish Australian who disarmed the attacker. Within hours, evidence showed that the true hero was Ahmed Al-Ahmed, an Australian Muslim who was shot in the shoulder and hand while bravely wrestling the gun away from the assailant.
Instead of expressing gratitude to a man who saved lives, Netanyahu compounded his error by further politicizing the attack. Even before the motive behind the violence had been established, the Israeli leader publicly attacked Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, linking the atrocity to Canberra’s decision — which was taken alongside France, the UK, Canada, Portugal and others — to recognize the state of Palestine.
