Penny Wong plans to visit Israel within weeks
Penny Wong will make a visit to the Middle East within weeks, following a bipartisan delegation travelling to Israel.
Penny Wong Photo: X
Foreign Minister Penny Wong will visit Israel in a matter of weeks.
As a bipartisan parliamentary delegation prepares to visit the Middle East next week, plans are being made for Senator Wong to make an official visit in early 2024.
The exact date is yet to be determined.
“Arrangements are being made for the foreign minister to visit the Middle East early in the new year,” a spokeswoman for Senator Wong said in a statement.
“Australia has been working with countries that have influence in the region to help protect and support civilians, to help prevent the conflict from spreading and to reinforce the need for the just and enduring peace that all of us want.”
Senator Wong’s trip would be the first time a cabinet minister had travelled to the region since the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has been listed as a terrorist organisation by the government, escalated in October.
It will follow a visit from Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts, who heads to Israel and Palestine next week.
“My visit is also an opportunity to thank regional countries for their assistance in helping Australians to safely depart the conflict zone and discuss ongoing consular challenges,” he said.
Mr Watts will meet with victims of the October 7 attack in Israel as well as with Israeli officials.
He will also meet with the Palestinian Authority and UN representatives.
A bipartisan delegation of MPs, led by opposition foreign spokesman Simon Birmingham, will also visit the region.
He said the upcoming trip by Senator Wong to the Middle East came too late.
“We would have much preferred to see the government act sooner,” Senator Birmingham told Sky News.
“Essentially, most of Australia’s like-minded partner nations have had presidents, prime ministers, foreign or defence ministers already visit Israel.
“We still don’t know the timing of this visit by the foreign minister, of course we want to see it happen and we want to see it happen as quickly as possible.”
Senator Birmingham said a visit was also necessary following Israel updating its travel warnings for its citizens to Australia, citing rising levels of anti-Semitism.
“The fact that this week Israel changed its travel advisory to suggest people needed to exercise caution or care or precautions when they came to Australia is a stain on our country,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said Senator Wong’s visit was appropriate.
“We maintain good relations with Israel, as we do with a number of countries in that region,” he told reporters in Geelong.
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told J-Wire: “We warmly welcome the Foreign Minister’s announcement. It will mean a great deal to the community and will further inform the government’s understanding of just how Hamas’s attacks devastated every aspect of life in Israel and why regional peace and stability will never be achieved while Hamas is intact.
No doubt the Foreign Minister will take the opportunity to meet with families of the hostages and survivors, visit the scenes of the massacre and convey our nation’s unwavering support for the Jewish state in its darkest hour.
Executive director of The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council added: “We are very pleased that Senator Wong will be visiting Israel and the wider Mideast region. We trust that the Foreign Minister will maintain the Government’s strong and sensible stance that, as she and colleagues have stipulated, the dismantling of Hamas will be required as part of any enduring peace.”
By: Andrew Brown/AAP
Let’s hope that after her visit Penny Wong might have something new to say.
I won’t hold my breath though.