Instead of inviting a religious figure, or a sensible figurehead of the Australian Jewish community, the government decided to invite one of the most divisive figures in the world. Rather than healing the wounds felt by every Australian with a heart, the decision has exacerbated the tensions.

The government's oft-repeated incantation of 'social cohesion' falls flat once the head of state of a nation that is credibly accused of committing genocide and systematic abuse, and apartheid is in Australia in the aftermath of the terrorist atrocities in Bondi in December 2025.

This will inevitably lead to more immeasurably cruel expulsions of Palestinian families from their own land.