Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm TurnbullReuters

Australian Industry, Innovation, and Science Minister Arthur Sinodinos, who was sworn in on January 24, 2017, said in an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom that Israel is "at the top of the Australian government's priority list, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has already proven himself to be a true friend of Israel."

According to Sinodinos, Turnbull believes Australia can learn a lot from Israel in terms of innovations and strategies for dealing with a desert climate. Sinodinos believes this situation will be "win-win," since it will open up more jobs in Australia and strengthen Australia's relationship and economic ties with Israel, turning the smaller country into Australia's strategic partner.

When asked if he had visited Israel, Sinodinos said, "I visited Israel a few years ago, maybe in the year 2000, as the chairman of then-Prime Minister John Howard's government. At that time, the atmosphere was very optimistic, and we all believed there would be significant progress in the peace process.

"It was a very interesting period to visit Israel, and I enjoyed my trip a lot. I grew up in a Greek Orthodox family, and I knew about Jerusalem's Biblical importance from a young age, and about its importance for the three monotheistic religions. For me, the visit was a mix of politics and history. We stayed in the King David Hotel, which in itself is historic.

"Our trip to Israel had a lot of value for me, and I want to visit again. I hope I will be able to make the trip in my current office, as the leader of a delegation.There are many delegations which travel to Israel, and we have a lot to learn from Israel. I want to visit Israel to learn from its business and innovations prowess.

"Just this week, I signed a technology and research agreement, and then we had a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binymain Netanyahu. It's good that we spoke about bilateral topics and about how we can strengthen the economic ties between the two countries and increase trade.

"We want to increase as much as possible the trade between Israel and Australia. We want to develop the innovations relationship, which is under my authority. And we also spoke about working together on security issues.

"I think that anything which raises commerce will be a success, but if Netanyahu wants to triple it, we will work with him. It's something which will benefit both countries.

"I think now is a very good time to work together with Israel on economics and commerce, since the Australian economy is currently undergoing a change in technology and innovations. There are a lot of ideas integrating themselves into our economy. We're good at ideas, and now we need to turn them into products and services.

"Israel is one of the countries which can help us accomplish this. Israel itself has managed to use its science and technology to accomplish a complete changeover in the country's economy."

Regarding UN resolution 2334, Sinodinos said Turnbull's criticism of the UN was the opinion of the entire Australian government.

"There were never any protests, public or private. We have always seen Israel as a sanctuary of democracy in the Middle East, and we see Israel and Australia as democratic equals, forging our way along the same path.

"When I say 'we,' I mean in general. It's true there were internal issues, mostly against the liberals. But when I say 'we' I mean the government. Turnbull summarized perfectly the government's stance on the issue.

"And regarding partnering with Israel on innovations - even the opposition agrees it will be beneficial."

Regarding Jerusalem, Sinodinos said it was an issue "which should be asked of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, or of Turnbull himself."

"In any case, I don't know of any change in our policy. We have always supported a two-state solution in which Israel receives defendable and secure borders. I think you saw how determined Turnbull is to make this happen, and I believe all of Australia's leaders stand with him."