History in the making
A sea of security personnel, dignitaries, photographers and police welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s first sitting Prime Minister to step on Australian soil, as he arrived in Sydney in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
A SEA of security personnel, dignitaries, photographers and police welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s first sitting Prime Minister to step on Australian soil, as he arrived in Sydney in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
As his plane descended, Israeli security suddenly started talking in Hebrew and an air of expectation and excitement spread throughout the crowd.
And then a moment that underscored the significance of the trip – the Israeli PM, accompanied by his wife, stepped out of an El Al plane onto a Qantas staircase.
After being greeted by Australia’s ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma, Israel’s ambassador to Australia Shmuel Ben-Shmuel, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, representing the Prime Minister, and John Barilaro, the Deputy Premier of NSW, Netanyahu, unlike most world leaders, didn’t simply give a smile and a wave to the waiting journalists. Instead he asked which camera was going live and walked straight over to the media, proclaiming “It’s great to be back.”
Expressing his pride at being the first Israeli Prime Minister to make an official visit Down Under, he noted, “We are celebrating 100 years of a friendship between Australia and Israel.
“I always remember that it was Australian Lighthorse that liberated Beersheva, an old, old city in our history, exactly 100 years ago. We have been extraordinary friends ever since.
“We admire Australia, we embrace Australia and this visit will enable us to bring our countries even closer.”
In the lead-up to Netanyahu’s visit, a host of Labor Party grandees, including former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Bob Hawke, called on Australia to recognise a Palestinian state.
Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten didn’t endorse his colleagues’ views but, stating that progress towards a peace deal had been “too slow”, he stressed that he would “make it clear to Mr Netanyahu that where settlement-building is an obstacle to the two-state solution, it should be stopped. Full stop.”
Labor powerbroker Sam Dastyari, meanwhile, criticised the fixation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of certain ALP members, claiming the “party can’t afford to focus on the Palestinian question at the expense of the other humanitarian challenges”.
Away from the corridors of power, meanwhile, demonstrators have been protesting Netanyahu’s visit, decrying him as a war criminal.
But the mood was very different when he met with Malcolm Turnbull.
After Netanyahu caught a boat across Sydney Harbour to Kirribilli House, he was warmly welcomed by the PM, who he described as a good friend at a press conference.
Noting the “friendship that Malcolm Turnbull and his government” have shown Israel, he observed that “Australia has been courageously willing to puncture UN hypocrisy more than once”.
He went on to extend an official invitation to Turnbull to visit Israel later this year.
“We remember the last successful cavalry charge in history,” Netanyahu said. “We remember that Australia was the first country to vote for the resolution for the establishment of the State of Israel.
“We remember that Australian and Jewish soldiers fought side by side, and we will never forget that.”
For his part, Turnbull said, “Israel and Australia are very good, strong friends,” adding, “Today we have a deep engagement in every field.”
After the press conference, Netanyahu headed to a business lunch hosted by Turnbull. And last night (Wednesday), the two Prime Ministers were due to attend a communal function at Sydney’s Central Synagogue.
For full coverage, see this week’s AJN.
JOSHUA LEVI
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