Dutton announces sudden visit to Israel

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has begun a three-day trip to Israel, where he will meet with the senior members of Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Mr Dutton trip will stretch from Monday to Thursday August 1, and will involve him meeting hostages impacted by Hamas’ October 7 attacks, and their family.

Shortly after landing on Monday evening, Sky News’ Sharri Markson reported Dutton was meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, and will then meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

His itinerary also includes a visit to the kibbutzes which have come under Hamas fire, as well as the site of the Nova music festival in Israel’s south, where more than 350 civilian attendees were killed in a surprise attack by Hamas militants.

In a statement announcing his trip, Mr Dutton said the relationship between Australia and Israel is “deep and abiding”.

“Today, Australia and Israel have a strong bilateral relationship traversing trade, agriculture, technology, security and more,” he said.

Labor powerbroker Cameron Milner applauded Mr Dutton’s trip on Sky News, and said it was “what the Prime Minister (Anthony Albanese) should be doing and isn’t”.

“He (Mr Dutton) is actually doing the things for Australia on the international stage, not going on some Contiki tour on Toto One and having champagne in the White House. (He’s) doing real international relations,” said Mr Milner, who was previously Mr Shorten’s chief of staff.

Mr Dutton’s trip was welcomed by the Australian Jewish Association, who issues a statement thanking the Opposition Leader on X.

“After Anthony Albanese has so far disgracefully refused to visit following October 7, despite numerous overseas trips, its nice to see someone in Australia acting prime-ministerial,” they wrote.

In January, Foreign Minister Penny Wong became the most senior Australian official to visit both Israel and the Palestinian-occupied West Bank.

She was criticised for not visiting the key sites involved in the October 7 massacre.

Mr Dutton’s trip also comes after a united call from Mr Albanese, Canadian leader Justin Trudeau and New Zealand leader Christopher Luxon for Israel to stop their ground and air campaign in Gaza.

The attacks are believed to have killed more than 39,000 largely civilian Palestinians, and displacing about 2.3m residents into shelters.

Mr Albanese, Mr Luxon and Mr Trudeau urged the Israeli government to “listen to the concerns of the international community,” and said the human suffering in Gaza was “catastrophic,”.

While they condemned the October 7 attacks and Hamas’ “ongoing acts of terror,” they said the “protection of civilians is paramount,” and backed a two-state solution.