Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asked that Australia designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, in a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow on Monday.
Australia, like the EU, only banned part of Hezbollah - its External Security Organization - but not the Lebanese terrorist group in its entirety.
The matter was discussed in Australia’s parliament earlier this year and is expected to come up in Canberra again.
Bennett also asked Morrison to call for a strong condemnation of Iran at the upcoming International Atomic Energy Agency’s upcoming board of governors meeting, set for later this month.
The prime minister is expected to further discuss Iran in later meetings today with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron, whose countries were party to the 2015 nuclear deal and support resuming negotiations to rejoin it.
Bennett also invited Morrison and his wife to visit Israel. He said Australia is a “great friend and big supporter” of Israel and said he hopes to strengthen ties between the countries.
As for climate, at the opening of the meeting, Bennett pointed out that both Australia and Israel committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“This does not have to be a political subject; it’s not a matter of Left and Right,” Bennett stated. “It is about our future.”
Bennett said that as the “Start-Up Nation,” Israel has a role in finding technological solutions for climate change.