From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 1, 2021
Bennett meets Australian PM, asks him to blacklist Hezbollah as terror group
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meets with Australian premier Scott Morrison at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, speaking about the Iran threat in addition to climate issues.
Bennett urges Morrison to ensure that Australia pushes for a rebuke of Iran at the next IAEA Board of Governors meeting in November. Australia is one of the 35 board members of the UN atomic agency for 2021-2022.
Bennett also brings up the importance of recognizing Hezbollah as a terror organization. Australia currently recognizes only the Hezbollah External Security Organization as a terrorist group, and not the entire organization. In June, Australia’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) recommended blacklisting all of Hezbollah.
Returning to a recent theme he has been expressing, Bennett says that climate change should not be a political issue, and that Israel’s contribution to the global effort is its innovative potential.
Bennett is joined by Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg, National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata and Political Advisor Shimrit Meir.
The prime minister also invites Morrison for a visit to Israel.
The last time the two leaders spoke was in June, when Morrison called to congratulate Bennett on cobbling together a government coalition.
