Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed last night in Sydney for a first official visit by an Israeli prime minister to Australia. Netanyahu was greeted by his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull, during which the Israeli leader declared the visit to be historic, noting it celebrated 100 years of friendship between the Australian and Jewish people.
“I’m honored to be the first Israeli Prime Minister to officially visit Australia. God, it’s been a long time coming! And it celebrates, really, 100 years of friendship of Australia to the Jewish people and their state,” said Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, during the joint press conference with his Australian counterpart, Turnbull, pointed to the absurd reality in which the Palestinians continually refuse to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, while stressing the fact in which Jerusalem could not allow for a Palestinian state to become a reality that would ultimately turn into a bastion of radical Islam – emphasizing that Israel would be willing to grant the Palestinians with all freedoms, except for a freedom to destroy the Jewish state.
“It’s not conceivable that people will say the Palestinians should have a state and continue to call for the annihilation of the Jewish state, Israel. So obviously asking the Palestinians to recognize a Jewish state is mandatory and people must do that. Secondly, we know that in the realities of the Middle East, if Israel is not there to ensure security, then that state very quickly will become another bastion of radical Islam. So this is what I’ve been talking about. And I’ve been talking about it for 8 years. I said we have to make sure that the Palestinians recognize the Jewish state and we have to ensure that Israel has the overriding security control of all the territories, all the territories. Other than that, I want the Palestinians to be able to govern themselves and to have all the freedoms to do so, but not the freedom to destroy the Jewish state. They have to recognize Israel and Israel has to have the residual military control. That’s my view. It hasn’t changed,” stated Netnayhu.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took the historic opportunity to declare his country’s unwavering support to the Jewish state, while criticizing the United Nations for its perceived one-sided approach toward Israel, and vowed that Sydney would never support one-sided resolutions. Nevertheless, the Australian Prime Minister reiterated Sydney’s continued support for a two-state solution.
“Well, let me thank you for that question. We do not support one-sided resolutions which condemn or criticize Israel of that kind We don’t. We haven’t done in the past and we won’t in the future. It is a complex problem. It needs to be resolved by direct negotiations between the parties, and we certainly encourage that. So that is our position and it has been consistent. We are a very committed friend of Israel, we are a very consistent friend,” said Turnbull.
Following their joint press conference, the two leaders held a closed door meeting, after which Netanyahu and Turnbull signed agreements fostering closer defense and economic cooperation.