Australia–Israel Relations

Australia maintains an embassy in Tel Aviv, while Israel’s embassy in Australia is in Canberra.[4][6] The relationship combines diplomatic support for Israel, commercial and technological cooperation, and Australian participation in arrangements supporting regional peace.[1][7] Australian governments have frequently supported Israel in international institutions, although their approaches to Israeli–Palestinian issues have changed with political leadership.[8]

The relationship’s practical scope extends beyond diplomatic voting to research and development, aviation, environmental cooperation, defense exchanges, and cybersecurity.[1][5] Bilateral goods and services trade totaled approximately US$1.34 billion in 2021, with Australian imports from Israel substantially exceeding Australian exports to Israel.[1] Investment and business links have included innovation, financial technology, agriculture, and health technology.[1][9]

Australia’s support for Israel has also coexisted with support for Palestinian self-determination and a two-state solution.[8] In 1987, Prime Minister Bob Hawke supported Palestinian self-determination alongside Israel’s security and its right to exist within secure and recognized boundaries.[8] In 2020, Australian Ambassador Chris Cannan characterized the relationship as “close, longstanding and bipartisan” and explained that Australian support for Israel accompanied support for an outcome negotiated directly between Israelis and Palestinians.[7]

Historical memory and Australian Jewish community engagement are additional dimensions of the connection.[1][10] The authors of A Distant Affinity argue that the countries developed unusually close relations despite their geographic separation and limited obvious common geopolitical interests, attributing that closeness partly to historical circumstances, Jewish communal engagement, and perceived cultural affinities.[10]

Australian forces participated in the Sinai–Palestine campaign during the First World War, including the capture of Beersheba on October 31, 1917.[1] Approximately 800 Australian Light Horse riders charged with short bayonets rather than swords, helping secure the town’s wells and water supply.[11] The battle became a prominent historical connection recalled in the bilateral relationship.[1]

The historical account A Distant Affinity traces additional wartime contacts through Jewish volunteers in the Zion Mule Corps at Gallipoli, Australian participation in the campaign for Jerusalem, and Australian divisions training in Palestine during the Second World War.[10] Its authors describe Australian soldiers’ encounters with local Jewish communities as another strand of contact before Israeli independence.[10] They characterize Australian policy before the Second World War as generally unsympathetic to Zionist aims, including representations to Britain favoring restrictions on Jewish refugee immigration to Palestine, and identify greater sympathy under the Labor government that took office in 1941.[10]

Australia was one of the 11 members of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, established in April 1947 to investigate communal unrest and recommend political steps.[12] The committee’s final report included a majority proposal for partition into two states linked by an economic union and a minority proposal for a federal state.[12] The Jewish Agency accepted partition, while the Arab Higher Committee rejected it.[12]

Australian External Affairs Minister H. V. Evatt chaired the General Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine and helped advance the partition resolution.[11] Minutes of a September 15, 1947, United States delegation meeting record Secretary of State George C. Marshall’s understanding that Evatt would press vigorously for the majority report; the same passage refers to an Australian abstention during the committee process.[13] Australia ultimately voted in favor of General Assembly Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947, when partition passed by 33 votes to 13, with 10 abstentions.[2] The resolution proposed separate Arab and Jewish states and a special international regime for Jerusalem.[2] Australia cast its affirmative vote despite British pressure to abstain.[14]

Australia recognized Israel in January 1949 under Prime Minister Ben Chifley.[1] As president of the General Assembly, Evatt also facilitated Israel’s admission to the United Nations.[11] On May 11, 1949, Australia co-sponsored the resolution admitting Israel with Canada, Guatemala, Haiti, Panama, the United States, and Uruguay.[3] The General Assembly adopted it that day.[3] Evatt welcomed Israel’s delegation with the hope that the wounds of the Middle East’s peoples would heal and that they would find friendship and comradeship.[14]

The authors of A Distant Affinity identify the internationalization of Jerusalem and Bethlehem as an early disagreement, describing Australia’s support for a General Assembly resolution adopted by 38 votes to 14 on December 9, 1949.[10] Their account describes a mixed Australian response during the 1956 Suez crisis: initial criticism of Israel, discussion of Israel’s right to use the canal, and a subsequent Australian vote with Britain, Israel, France, and New Zealand against a United States-sponsored ceasefire-and-withdrawal resolution.[10]

Before the 1967 Six-Day War, Australia was among the countries prepared to contribute forces to an international flotilla.[11] The authors of A Distant Affinity describe Australian support for freedom of passage through the Straits of Tiran, alongside resistance to Israeli requests to purchase Mirage aircraft or spare parts and reluctance to enter other military cooperation.[10]

Relations became less harmonious during Gough Whitlam’s government of 1972–75, which did not condemn the Egyptian and Syrian attacks that began the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[11] The authors of A Distant Affinity describe this period as a departure from earlier policy, citing criticism of United States arms support to Israel and approval of a Palestine Liberation Organization liaison office in Canberra.[10] They also distinguish Australia’s support for a resolution equating Zionism with racism at a United Nations women’s conference in Mexico from its opposition to the equivalent General Assembly resolution.[10]

Australia agreed in 1981 to contribute to the Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai, the force monitoring the Israel–Egypt peace treaty.[11] The authors of A Distant Affinity give the initial contingent as approximately 100 personnel and eight helicopters, deployed in March 1982 under Malcolm Fraser’s government and withdrawn in April 1986.[10] Their chronology records a smaller Australian contingent returning in 1993 and Australian Major General David B. Ferguson commanding the full force from April 1994 to April 1997.[10]

The same historical account identifies President Chaim Herzog’s November 1986 visit as the first Australian visit by a serving Israeli president and Bob Hawke’s January 1987 journey as the first Israeli visit by a serving Australian prime minister.[10] Its authors also describe Australia’s campaign to repeal the 1975 General Assembly resolution equating Zionism with racism, which was rescinded in December 1991, while noting increased Australian criticism of Israeli policies in the late 1980s.[10]

The authors characterize John Howard’s government, elected in 1996, as a period of especially close relations.[10] They cite Australian assistance with Israel’s admission to the United Nations Western European and Others Group in 2000 and a growing willingness to oppose resolutions regarded as one-sidedly critical of Israel.[10] Published in 2007, their historical account ends its principal chronology in that year.[10]

In December 2014, Australia joined the United States in opposing a Jordanian-sponsored Security Council resolution on Palestinian statehood.[5] The proposal received eight affirmative votes, below the nine required for adoption; it was Australia’s first negative vote on a proposed resolution during its two-year Council term.[5]

Benjamin Netanyahu became the first sitting Israeli prime minister to visit Australia in February 2017.[5] He and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull signed agreements on technological innovation and air services while discussing wider economic, political, and security cooperation.[8]

Turnbull visited Israel in October 2017 and signed a memorandum of understanding on mutual defense, emphasizing the countries’ shared interest in protecting their populations from terrorism.[5]

In December 2018, Scott Morrison’s government recognized West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital but retained the Australian embassy in Tel Aviv, linking a possible move to a peace settlement.[5] The announcement also acknowledged Palestinian aspirations for a future state with its capital in East Jerusalem.[5] Australia opened a trade and defense office in Jerusalem in March 2019; the office was commercially focused, managed by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, and had neither diplomatic status nor the status of an embassy extension.[5]

On October 18, 2022, Anthony Albanese’s government reversed the recognition of West Jerusalem.[4] Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Jerusalem’s status should be resolved through Israeli–Palestinian negotiations and confirmed that the embassy would remain in Tel Aviv.[4] Israel expressed deep disappointment at the reversal.[4]

Australia expanded its terrorist designation of Hamas in 2022 from the al-Qassam Brigades military wing to the entire organization, including its political wing, restricting financing and other support.[5] Following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on southern Israel, the Sydney Opera House was illuminated in Israel’s national colors.[15] Demonstrations at the site included the burning of an Israeli flag and antisemitic chants, while protests, vandalism, harassment, and threats were reported elsewhere in the following weeks.[15]

On October 16, 2023, Australia’s prime minister moved a parliamentary motion condemning Hamas’s attacks, affirming Israel’s right to defend itself, and demanding the immediate and unconditional release of hostages.[1] The motion supported civilian protection and humanitarian access to Gaza, acknowledged Israeli and Palestinian civilian losses, and condemned antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other hatred.[1] It passed the House of Representatives 110–4, with the four opposing votes cast by Greens members, and received overwhelming support in the Senate.[1]

On July 26, 2024, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand jointly called for an urgent Gaza ceasefire, condemned Hamas’s October 7 actions, and demanded the release of hostages.[5] Their statement urged Israel to protect Palestinian civilians, supported a Security Council-endorsed ceasefire deal, and backed a two-state solution.[5] In July, Australia also announced sanctions and travel bans on seven Israeli individuals and the Hilltop Youth organization, citing involvement in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[16]

Australia changed several United Nations voting positions during 2024.[17] In December it supported a General Assembly resolution calling on Israel to end its presence in the Palestinian territories, departing from two decades of opposition to that measure; Australia had last supported it in 2001.[17] It also supported resolutions concerning Security Council consideration of Palestinian membership and Palestinian sovereignty over natural resources, while having abstained in September on a demand for Israeli withdrawal within 12 months.[17] On December 11, Australia voted for the resolution titled “Demand for ceasefire in Gaza,” adopted by 158 votes to nine, with 13 abstentions.[18]

On August 11, 2025, Albanese announced that Australia would recognize a Palestinian state at the General Assembly in September.[19] Albanese and Wong presented the decision as advancing a two-state solution, a Gaza ceasefire, and hostage releases, citing commitments from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on governance, ending prisoner payments, educational reform, demilitarization, elections, and recognition of Israel’s right to exist.[19] They also said Hamas could have no role in a Palestinian state.[19]

Australia formally recognized an independent and sovereign State of Palestine on September 21, 2025, in a coordinated move with Britain and Canada.[5] Albanese described recognition as reflecting Australia’s longstanding commitment to a two-state solution and reiterated that Hamas must have no role in Palestine.[5] Israeli officials criticized the policy as rewarding terrorism and harming security and peace.[19]

A separate visa dispute intensified the strain in August 2025, when Australia barred Knesset member Simcha Rothman from visiting.[5] Israel revoked the residency visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority and instructed its Canberra embassy to examine official Australian visa applications closely.[5] Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar linked the measures to Palestinian-state recognition and Australian refusals of visas to Israeli figures and accused the Australian government of fueling antisemitism.[5]

President Isaac Herzog visited Australia in February 2026 and attended a Bondi Beach memorial for the December 14, 2025, attack, meeting bereaved families and survivors, laying a wreath, and placing stones brought from Jerusalem in accordance with Jewish tradition.[5] During a meeting with Albanese in Canberra, he discussed support for Australian Jews, action against antisemitism, Middle Eastern peace and security, and opportunities for a new direction in bilateral relations.[20] The visit also included discussion of technology, science, agriculture, and tourism.[20]

On June 9, 2026, Australia joined Britain, France, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway in new sanctions concerning settlement activity and violence in the West Bank, particularly targeting Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.[5] The participating governments characterized the actions prompting the measures as harmful to Palestinians and incompatible with a two-state solution.[5]

Annual strategic talks between Australian and Israeli defense officials began in 2018, followed by Australia’s appointment of a resident defense attaché in Tel Aviv in early 2019.[1] The countries signed a cybersecurity-cooperation memorandum in January 2019, alongside wider work on national security and aviation security.[1] These developments followed expanded cooperation from 2017, when defense collaboration had still been comparatively limited.[1][8] Australia’s regional security contributions have also included participation in the Sinai Multinational Force and Observers and the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization.[7]

The 2017 Netanyahu–Turnbull meetings covered counterterrorism, aviation security, cybersecurity, innovation, investment, and trade.[8] Their technological innovation and research-and-development agreement was accompanied by an air-services agreement intended to expand commercial and people-to-people links.[8] Agreements also strengthened education and innovation cooperation and explored collaboration in agriculture, water, energy, and environmental protection.[21]

Earlier initiatives included a November 2015 visit by an Israeli economic ministry official to promote economic, scientific, and technological cooperation and a research-and-development agreement with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.[5] An April 2016 environmental cooperation declaration covered water quality, clean energy, and coastal preservation.[5] A renewed bilateral research-and-development agreement in 2018 identified health, life sciences, and agriculture among collaboration opportunities.[22]

Australia established an innovation “Landing Pad” in Tel Aviv for early-stage Australian startups.[7] By the Australian ambassador’s 2019 account, it had brought more than 60 early-stage companies to Israel since 2017.[22] That account also identified 17 Israeli companies listed on Australia’s stock exchange and Israeli investment in drones, agribusiness, and cybersecurity.[22]

The Australia–Israel Chamber of Commerce has existed since the 1950s.[23] Bilateral goods and services trade in 2021 was approximately US$1.34 billion, comprising US$325 million in Australian exports and US$1.02 billion in imports from Israel.[1] Israel was Australia’s 46th-largest two-way trading partner and 54th-largest export market that year.[1] Australian investment in Israel approached US$1.6 billion in 2020, while Israeli investment in Australia totaled US$585 million, mostly in innovation.[1]

During Netanyahu’s 2017 visit, annual trade was reported at approximately US$1 billion, and Netanyahu expressed the hope that it would double or triple.[24] Commercial connections continued through the later diplomatic tensions: in 2025, the Chamber of Commerce’s chief executive estimated that approximately 150 Israeli companies operated in Australia through offices or representatives.[9] The executive estimated goods-trade growth of 20% since the beginning of 2025, including 30% growth in Israeli exports to Australia.[9]

Israeli technology has found applications in Australian finance and critical infrastructure.[9] BioCatch entered Australia in 2018, and its chief executive reported that all four major Australian banks had adopted its behavioral fraud-detection technology, collectively representing approximately 85% of the national banking market.[9] CyberArk employed approximately 80 people across Australian offices and served customers in finance and critical infrastructure.[9] Other commercial connections encompassed agriculture, digital health, and pharmaceuticals.[9]

People-to-people mobility received a formal framework through the “Holiday & Visa” agreement announced on October 22, 2014.[5] The arrangement provided 500 work-travel visas annually for Australians and Israelis aged 18–30, permitting stays of up to a year.[5] Aviation access had previously constrained tourism: a 2004 assessment identified the absence of a direct air link as a barrier to further growth.[23] The 2017 air-services agreement addressed the broader objective of expanding commercial and personal connections between the countries.[8]

Australia’s vote for partition and its co-sponsorship of Israel’s United Nations admission gave the relationship an institutional foundation during the creation and international recognition of the Jewish state.[2][3] Earlier Australian service at Beersheba supplied a separate historical connection, commemorated in later accounts of the relationship.[1] An Australian ambassador’s 2019 account marked the seventieth anniversary of diplomatic relations and recalled Abba Eban’s appreciation for the warmth and eloquence of Evatt’s welcome to Israel at the United Nations.[22]

Australian involvement in the Sinai monitoring force has connected bilateral friendship with support for the Israel–Egypt peace treaty.[11] Scientific and commercial cooperation has provided another continuing dimension, through startup exchanges, cybersecurity applications, banking technology, agricultural innovation, and health-related research.[9][22]

The authors of Beyond Beer Sheva argue that cooperation has often fallen short of its potential and identify further mutual benefits in cybersecurity, innovation, agriculture, defense technology, and counterterrorism.[8] Their assessment distinguishes shared interests from the more limited diplomatic attention and practical cooperation devoted to them.[8]

In October 2026, Israeli Ambassador Hillel Newman described relations as a “roller-coaster journey,” saying that they had seriously deteriorated in recent years, particularly after October 7, 2023, and Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state.[25] Nevertheless, he reported a desire to improve ties in many of his Australian meetings and pointed to more than 150 Israeli companies active in Australia.[25] He identified further opportunities in defense, security, space, agricultural technology, water technology, and health technology.[25]

Jerusalem’s status, settlement policy, Gaza, and Palestinian recognition have generated significant disagreements despite extensive practical cooperation.[5][4] The 2018 Jerusalem proposal also divided opinion during the Wentworth by-election: some Jewish residents welcomed it while others objected, and Arab diplomats and Indonesia warned of potential commercial consequences.[26]

Australia presented its 2024 voting changes as support for peace and a two-state solution.[17] It similarly framed its 2025 recognition policy as support for a two-state outcome, while Israeli officials criticized the policy as rewarding terrorism and undermining peace.[5][19] An August 2025 DemosAU poll found 45% support for recognizing Palestinian statehood before a negotiated agreement, compared with 23% opposition; support had been 35% a year earlier.[27] Diplomatic tensions also included a December 2024 exchange in which Wong criticized humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza and Sa’ar rejected her criticism and protested Australia’s refusal of a visa to former Israeli minister Ayelet Shaked.[28]

The sanctions announced in 2024 and 2026 reflected the imposing governments’ assessments of settlement activity and violence, rather than a shared Australian–Israeli interpretation of those policies.[16][5] These disputes have remained distinct from the commercial and technological connections that continued during the period of diplomatic strain.[9]