Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, facing a deep political crisis at home after losing his one-seat working parliamentary majority, will arrive in Israel Monday afternoon for a brief 48-hour visit to take part in Tuesday’s ceremonies marking 100 years since the Battle of Beersheba.
According to Australian media reports, Turnbull is coming in hopes of strengthening Australia’s security and defense ties with Israel. He will be the first Australian prime minister to visit since John Howard in 2000, and his visit is taking place just eight months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first ever sitting Israeli prime minister to visit Australia.
“As a result of this visit, we aim to upgrade the cooperation on defense, national security and the protection of crowded places,” Mr. Turnbull said before leaving. “Our nations can learn a great deal from each other in order to strengthen security and keep our citizens safe.”
Netanyahu and Australian PM Turnbull discuss strengthening Israel, Australia ties on Feb. 23 (credit: REUTERS)
Australia is currently the world’s seventh largest importer of weapons, and is an increasingly significant market for Israeli weaponry. During the visit, the two countries are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding regarding defense cooperation.
The two countries are also expected to initiate an annual strategic dialogue.
Netanyahu is scheduled to welcome Turnbull, with whom he has a strong working relationship, at a brief ceremony at the Prime Minister’s Office at 5:00 pm, followed by a one-on-one meeting. Netanyahu and his wife Sara will then host Turnbull and his wife Lucy at their residence.
The Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the two countries “enjoy an excellent bilateral relationship, supported by both major parties in the Australian Parliament, a relationship predicated on shared values and fields of interest and concern including the struggle against terrorism and extremism. Australia has long been an advocate of Israel’s striving for peace and security, including in international fora.”
The main feature of Turnbull’s visit will be participation in the commemorative events on Tuesday marking a centennial to the Battle of Beersheba, where Australian and New Zealand forces conquered the southern city in what has been called one of the last great cavalry battles in history.
Turnbull will deliver a speech in Beersheba before a re-enactment of the charge of the Australian light horse brigade.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten, whom the Foreign Ministry described as an “avid supporter of Israel,” will also be attending the ceremonies.
Because his trip was condensed from four days to two, Turnbull is not scheduled to meet any Palestinian Authority officials during his stay. During his stay he is also scheduled to meet President Reuven Rivlin and visit Yad Vashem.
The Australian premier is arriving a day after New Zealand’s Governor-General Patsy Reddy arrived to take part in the Beersheba ceremonies as well. This is the first ever visit here by New Zealand’s governor-general.
New Zealand’s former prime minister Bill English was originally scheduled to attend, but those plans were upended when he lost his job following elections there last month.
Reddy is also scheduled to meet separately with Netanyahu and Rivlin.
Israel-New Zealand ties were badly strained and the diplomatic ties downgraded last December when Wellington was one of the four co-sponsors of an anti-settlement resolution at the UN Security Council. The relationship was patched up six months later after English wrote a letter saying he regretted “the damage done to Israel-New Zealand relations” as a result of the move.
On Sunday, as Reddy arrived, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem issued a statement saying the two countries “share a long history of positive cooperation dating back to the Battle of Beersheba, but also modern values and a great enthusiasm to promote inter alia, future cooperation in the fields of: RD, high tech, agriculture and cyber technologies.”
Reddy’s visit, the statement continued, “will undoubtedly cement yet further the ties between Israel and New Zealand on all levels.”
Article source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/21191
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