Subhead:This heated interview exposed the very debate Australia’s government didn’t want in the public square.#
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We went to the Knesset in Jerusalem to speak directly with the people shaping Israel’s future. And one of the most explosive conversations I’ve had in a long time was with Simcha Rotman — the Israeli MP recently barred from Australia by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
What I didn’t expect was for Rotman to turn his fire on me. When I pressed him on whether empathy for innocent civilians in Gaza could exist alongside Israel’s right to defend itself, he snapped back, even accusing me of falling for Hamas propaganda.
In a heated exchange, he went as far as to suggest that believing such narratives was no different than excusing the killing of Israeli babies, which led to a heated moment.
Rotman didn’t hold back at any stage in our interview. He was defiant when telling independent journalist Rukshan Fernando and I the saga of his Australia ban, remembering how his visa was approved, then abruptly cancelled the morning of his flight.
“They cancelled my visa with a long document,” he said, adding the Australian government claimed his statements were “divisive and inflammatory.” According to Rotman, his supposed offence was saying things like “we should eliminate Hamas” and that “Israel is on the good side and Hamas is on the bad side.” He was stunned: “Hamas is a terrorist organisation in Australia. So to say that you need to eliminate a terrorist organisation, I thought that’s in the name.”
