I agree with you there, and think your active wording is better.
What confuses me is that I don't see the conceptual jump from the Guardian using a passive voice which de-emphasises the Israeli government's responsibility in this, and rampant antisemitism. Particularly when you give examples of how this is a larger problem in media.
Unless I'm missing something here, is it not more likely to be just a questionable grammatical choice with no ill intent?
It's more expensive to become a republic at this point. Australia would need a referendum to change the Constitution. The last referendum attempt to become a republic was in 1999 and failed, but cost $66m.
The last referundum in Australia was last year and while the AEC has not fully costed it, I've seen one estimate of it costing $450m.