Australia barred far-right Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman from visiting the country for a series of appearances, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Monday, accusing the politician of intending to “spread division.”

Israel later responded in anger, revoking the residency visas of Australia’s representatives to the Palestinian Authority and implementing other steps.

Rothman, a far-right lawmaker, had been slated to make a series of appearances at Jewish schools and synagogues and meet with victims of a recent wave of antisemitic attacks, according to the Australian Jewish Association, which invited him and confirmed that Rothman’s visa had been cancelled.

“If you are coming to Australia to spread a message of hate and division, we don’t want you here,” Burke said. “Australia will be a country where everyone can be safe, and feel safe.”

As an automatic condition of the visa cancellation, Rothman is unable to travel to Australia for three years.

It was unclear which, if any, specific actions or comments by Rothman had triggered the move by Canberra.

However, in a statement, Rothman said the decision was “a surrender to terrorism and antisemitism that is rampant on the streets of Australia,” and had been made due to the Knesset’s vote last month to pass a motion in favor of annexing the West Bank, a symbolic move by the parliament that is non-binding.

He also said that he had been invited to speak as his views “reflect the mainstream of Israeli society: that Hamas has shown that Israel must defeat it, and that a Palestinian state poses a danger to the existence of the State of Israel.”

Rothman claimed in an interview with the Kan public broadcaster on Monday that the Australian government was “threatened by Islamist jihadists about what will happen if I am allowed to visit, and so instead of worrying about public order, instead of standing........

© The Times of Israel