As he wrapped up his five-day trip to Australia on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described his visit, a first for a serving Israeli prime minister, as "wonderful."
"This has been a wonderful visit here. You people are amazing," Netanyahu told Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop before talks behind closed doors.
- Netanyahu joked with Bishop, who had recently arrived home from a trip to the United States and Britain, that the pair had "shared more or less the same route."
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Prime Minister Netanyahu, right, meets with Australian Foreign Minister Bishop (Photo: AP)
(צילום: AP)
Netanyahu and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week agreed to deepen business and travel links between the two countries.
About 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters at Sydney's Town Hall on Thursday night complained that Netanyahu was being treated like a celebrity in Australia when he should be tried for war crimes.
He was also accused by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of frustrating negotiations with the US to create a two-state solution to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu met political, business and Jewish community leaders during his stay. He was accompanied by a large security contingent as he traveled around Sydney.
Netanyahu had been to Australia twice before but never as prime minister.
"I'd stay longer if I could," he told Bishop.