The visit to Australia by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a triumph for him personally, and for Israeli diplomacy. It was also, importantly, a triumph for Malcolm Turnbull
But first it’s worth recognising the scale of Israel’s diplomatic achievement. As Israel continues to have diplomatic problems in western Europe, it is simultaneously experiencing unprecedented diplomatic success in Asia.
Most Asian capitals are with Israel in the struggle against terrorism, admire its hi-tech economy and want to interact with it, respect its democracy and accord a very low priority to the Palestinian issue.
These nations are not going to earn the ire of the Arab bloc at the UN by voting with Israel on contentious resolutions, but increasingly they are completely uninhibited about their commercial, diplomatic and political dealings with it.
Australia is a different case because we are a close friend and ally of Israel.
Netanyahu’s visit was a diplomatic victory. It engendered tremendous goodwill, it moved real business forward in both the government and the private sectors, and it communicated key Israeli political messages, including demolishing the absurdity inflicted on the visit by the Labor ghosts.
But the visit was also an unmitigated triumph for Turnbull. In taking an unequivocally pro-Israel position, with no temporising or rhetorical apology or mealy mouthed political correctness, Turnbull defied the zeitgeist.
The Australian people are almost always wiser than the chattering class on the big issues. The consensus among the left-liberal establishment in the European and North American media and political classes is that Israel is the villain.
Turnbull did not have any time for this nonsense. He didn’t half embrace it and then carve out some goodwill for Israel within that faulty paradigm. Instead he rejected the left-liberal orthodoxy root and branch. His message was unifying for his side of politics. It was embraced by almost all sections of the Liberal Party and the Nationals. It was a message that won the public, unified the party and burnished his national security credentials.
Labor, on the other hand, had a real outbreak of disunity and diplomatic bad manners.
Read the full article by Greg Sheridan at The Australian.