THE AUSTRALIAN
Road closures, bag searches, bomb detectors and a massive security presence — these will be some of the hallmarks of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Sydney next week.
Mr Netanyahu is set to become the first sitting Israeli Prime Minister to visit Australia.
He will speak at Central Synagogue in Bondi next week with overwhelming demand for tickets. Guests will be searched for weapons and roads around the synagogue closed. Mr Netanyahu will meet Malcolm Turnbull, whose Sydney electorate includes the synagogue and has a large Jewish constituency.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich acknowledged that it was a source of disappointment to some in Melbourne’s Jewish community that the Israeli PM would not visit Melbourne.
“This visit is a wonderful opportunity for PM Netanyahu to critically engage and discuss with PM Turnbull the ironclad alliance, the common goals of achieving peace in the region, and the array of global security issues and threats both nations are facing.”
Melbourne Jewish leaders are expected to travel to Sydney.
Jewish community sources say Israeli security officials have been meeting with their counterparts in the Australian Federal Police and the NSW Police Force.
Mr Netanyahu will travel with his own security detail, although it has not yet been decided if they will be allowed to carry firearms.