US and Israel condemnation of sanctions on ministers is ‘predictable’, Australia says

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said condemnation by the U.S. and Israel of sanctions imposed on two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers was “predictable”, and that the two men had impeded a two-state solution.

Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in a coordinated action imposed sanctions on Tuesday on cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that the U.S. condemned the move, and Israel said the action by the five countries was “outrageous” and the Israeli government would hold a special meeting early next week to decide how to respond.

Albanese said the responses from Israel and the U.S. are “predictable”.

“The Israeli Government does need to uphold its obligations under international law and some of the expansionist rhetoric that we’ve seen as well is clearly in contradiction of that from these hard-line right wing members of the Netanyahu government,” Albanese said on Wednesday in an interview with ABC Radio Sydney.

Comments by the two men “have aided what is a serious impediment to a two-state solution”, he added.

The sanctions freeze the assets and impose travel bans on Israel’s National Security Minister Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Smotrich, both West Bank settlers, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.

“We, along with those other countries and the broader international community, believe we can only see peace in the Middle East when we deal with two states and when both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security,” she said in a television interview with Seven. 

Israel’s Ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, wrote on X on Wednesday that the sanctions are “deeply concerning and entirely unacceptable”.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)