Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison vowed on Monday that his country will continue to stand with Israel.
He made the comments in a Facebook video post in which he lauded the “historic relationship and friendship” between the two countries on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Australia and Israel.
“I want to honor the historical ties and friendship that our nations proudly share,” he said. “On this anniversary, we remember that Australia was central to the establishment of Israel.”
In 1947, Australia chaired the committee that recommended the partition to the United Nations General Assembly, which then voted in favor of dividing the territory of Mandatory Palestine.
“Now, we did so because in the words of our then-prime minister we believed that the new nation of Israel will be a force of special value in the world community,” Morrison said.
Morrison explained that Israel’s recognition was fair and just, “and this remains as true today as it was then.”
“That faith... in Israel’s potential has been proven many times over,” he said, making it clear that Israel “is a modern, liberal, democratic success story.”
“[It is] a nation of immigrants, free press, parliamentary democracy and the source of tremendous innovation in our world today,” Morrison emphasized.
“Despite your success, there are many in the world today who continue to seek to bully Israel and we won’t be part of that and we won’t put up with it and we will stand by Israel every step of the way,” he said. “When we see that, whether it’s at the United Nations or elsewhere, what we do is we call it out, because we know that the standard you walk past is the standard you accept.”
The prime minister said the Australian people, especially the country’s ruling Liberal Party, are incredibly proud of Israel, adding that his party “always has been and always will be a friend of Israel.”
“We will always lean forward toward Israel, and not retreating and falling back,” he said.
Morrison highlighted that Israel and Australia are “steadfast friends” and that Australia “is looking forward to an even stronger bond between our countries and our peoples” in the years ahead.