The comment by Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon that neither he nor his country has done enough to provide Australians with a better understanding of the impact of war in Gaza on daily life in Israel is a surprisingly frank and belated admission.

In an interview with the Herald’s national security and defence correspondent Matthew Knott, the ambassador said antisemitism was the driving force behind global criticism of Israel. He insisted that mounting pressure from the Albanese government and the international community in isolation would fail to accelerate the creation of a Palestinian state, and he believed many Australians failed to grasp the seriousness of the security threats his nation faced.

Maimon paralleled the daily existential threat to Israel with the alarmed reaction by some sections of the........

© The Sydney Morning Herald