President Reuven Rivlin met with the Australian diplomat Mike Baird today (Sunday), during the latter's visit to Israel.
Baird is the Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure and the Minister for Western Sydney. This is the first time that the premier of an Australian territory has made an official visit to Israel.
During his talk, President Rivin praised Australia's efforts against extremism. "Even though you are on the other side of the world, you know very well that the spread of hatred and the instability that we are witnessing in the Middle East is a danger to the whole world, and I want to thank you for your country's strong position against extremism. To Israel's north, five armies are fighting each other, and none of them are friends of Israel. The Islamic State (ISIS) thugs are carrying out acts of terror across the world, and the whole free world must be united against this threat."
