The federal government’s decision to sanction two far-right Israeli minsters, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, has been a long time coming.

It underscores the deep frustration with the Netanyahu government felt by some of Israel’s oldest and most reliable allies at the intransigence of its prime minister and a growing disgust at the human toll of the war in Gaza.

Anthony Albanese is expected to meet Donald Trump for the first time at the G7 Summit in Canada this weekend.Credit: Aresna Villanueva

It’s also an exquisite piece of timing, coming on the eve of Anthony Albanese’s expected first meeting with Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada. But the prime minister has hardly signed up to a radical position. Joined by the Norwegians, New Zealand’s conservative prime minister, Christopher Luxon, and a pair of centre-left leaders – UK’s Keir Starmer and Canada’s Mark Carney – the sanctions carry weight, as evidenced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s almost immediate pushback, and the move is sure to be discussed if, or when, the US president and the prime minister finally meet in person.

Given that the only world leader Netanyahu appears to pay any significant heed to is Trump, leaders like Albanese have a part to play in both publicly and privately lobbying the president over ending the war in Gaza, and a possible, eventual two-state solution.

At the time of writing, on the eve of a trip that will take him to Nadi, in Fiji, Seattle, Washington and Kananaskis in Canada for the G7 summit, a sit-down between Albanese and Trump has not been confirmed.........

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