Act’s David Seymour and New Zealand First’s Winston Peters have distanced themselves from comments Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made last week when he said Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu had “lost the plot”.
Seymour, Luxon’s Deputy Prime Minister, told the Herald it’s “better just to keep your thoughts to yourself” when dealing with most international leaders, while Peters, the Foreign Affairs Minister, said “it’s not language I use”.
Neither of the politicians would comment last week, wanting to verifying Luxon’s remarks first and understand their context.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Sharren Haskel fired back at the New Zealand leader, saying he wouldn’t comprehend “the challenges that come with facing Hamas” and suggesting New Zealand’s “most deadly enemy is a possum or a cat”.
The Prime Minister made the comment last week after the Herald asked whether he agreed with Labour leader Chris Hipkins that an “unfolding genocide” was occurring in Gaza.
“I think Netanyahu has gone way too far. I think he has lost the plot. What we are seeing overnight, the attack on Gaza City, is utterly, utterly unacceptable,” Luxon said.
He said Netanyahu wasn’t “listening to the international community”, but Luxon believed he had been “consistent” with his language and New Zealand had “stood up for values”.
The Prime Minister said the comment that Netanyahu had “lost the plot” was his “personal view”.
“As a human being, looking at the situation, that is how I feel about it,” Luxon said.
Seymour on Tuesday said they were Luxon’s “personal comments”.
“I just take the view that when you’re dealing with any other leader, unless it’s someone like Vladimir Putin, then it’s better just to keep your thoughts to yourself, which is what I do. But I respect his right to express his opinion, as he said,” the Act leader said.
Seymour said he didn’t think using those terms helped the situation.
“What we have is a world with a lot of pain, a lot of suffering. We want the conflict to end, and we want human rights to be upheld, and so I just say, it doesn’t really help. If you’re making fun of Kim Jong-un, then maybe, but I don’t think it helps.”
Asked about Haskel’s response, Seymour replied: “Once you get into a war of words, you’re not really solving any problems.”
“I respect the Prime Minister’s right to make a personal comment, which now that I’ve looked at his comments, that was the context. But personally, I don’t generally get into that.”
Peters said it was “not language I use” and “I didn’t say it”. The Foreign Affairs Minister said “I am the most experienced guy you’ve met on this matter”.
Asked if the Prime Minister had shown a lack of experience, Peters said: “Next question.”
Luxon didn’t back down from his comments following Haskel’s social media post, saying “they’re entitled to their view, we’re entitled to ours”.
He disputed that he played down the horrors of the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, saying that when he speaks on the issue, “the first thing out of my mouth is the abhorrence of what we saw on October 7″.
But Luxon said he followed those remarks by saying he expected Israel to provide “unfettered” humanitarian aid and support.
“We expect Israel to comply and make sure they’re protecting civilians as well. Go back and look at the record of my consistency in my statements.”
Luxon said he was the Prime Minister who designated the entirety of Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
“It’s one of the first things I did,” he said, speaking of his February 2024 decision a couple of months after forming the Government.
Last week, the Government announced it would formally weigh up New Zealand’s position on the recognition of Palestine over the next month.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in theNZ Heraldpress gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.