More unites Australia–Israel than divides

Even before it convened, it was a given that this year’s Australia–Israel Strategic Dialogue – in the past known as the Be’er Sheva Dialogue in commemoration of the famous charge of the Light Horse Brigade – was going to be especially memorable.

In fact, the conference, co-hosted by AIJAC and Peter Jennings of Strategic Analysis Australia, along with Israeli partners Brig. Gen. (res) Yossi Kuperwasser from the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and ambassador Mark Regev from Reichman University’s Abba Eban Institute, exceeded expectations in many ways.

Initiated and co-founded by AIJAC a decade ago, and alternating between Australia and Israel, the forum returned to Tel Aviv last month for the first time since the October 7 massacre and the long and difficult war that followed.

But what nobody could have predicted in planning the event was that the Trump ceasefire deal would precede the conference by a week, bringing all the living hostages home and the Gaza War to an end, at least for now. This most auspicious development energised discussions on rebooting the damaged bilateral Australia–Israel strategic and security relationships. It also led to explorations of the many unresolved challenges in pursuing a pathway to peace in Gaza, as well as pressing regional Middle East defence issues, including the post-war posture of a weakened but still very dangerous Iran.

Together with sessions on China’s challenges and Asia-Pacific concerns and also on where Australia and Israel fit into the Trump administration’s foreign policy, the changing strategic context made for lively, substantive, ongoing discussions.