ISRAELI President Reuven Rivlin met at his residence on Sunday afternoon with NSW Premier Mike Baird who is visiting Israel. His arrival in Israel marked the first official visit to Israel by a NSW Premier in living memory.
President Rivlin welcomed Premier Baird and reiterated his disappointment at having been unable to fulfil his planned visit to Australia in March.
He said, “I was especially disappointed because I know and appreciate the tremendous cooperation that we have, which is an expression of the close friendship between Israeli and Australian people.”
The President added that Israel was greatly concerned about the situation in the region, and praised Australia for their strong stance against extremism.
He said, “Even though you are on the other side of the world, you know very well that the spread of hatred and the instability that we are witnessing in the Middle East is a danger to the whole world, and I want to thank you for your country’s strong position against extremism. To Israel’s north, five armies are fighting each other, and none of them are friends of Israel. The Islamic State thugs are carrying out acts of terror across the world, and the whole free world must be united against this threat.”
Full report in Australian Jewish News.