Simon Birmingham, Josh Burns lead cross-party visit to Israel

A cross-party delegation of Australian politicians led by opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham will travel to Israel next week to express solidarity with the nation following the October 7 Hamas massacre.

Birmingham will be joined by Victorian Labor MPs Josh Burns and Michelle Ananda-Rajah as well as Liberal National MP Andrew Wallace and Victorian Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie.

Shadow foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The MPs will become the latest Australian politicians to visit Israel since the shock Hamas attacks that claimed the lives of 1200 people, prompting Israel to launch a devastating bombardment on the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected opposition calls to travel to Israel and Foreign Minister Penny Wong has not announced any plans to travel to the Middle East.

“With dozens of presidents, prime ministers and ministers from like-minded countries having visited Israel since the terrorist attacks of October 7, it is disgraceful that not one Albanese government minister has done so,” Birmingham said in a statement provided to News Corp.

“As shadow foreign minister, I am pleased to have the opportunity to visit Israel, demonstrating our enduring support for Israel’s right to exist and its inherent right to self-defence, including the removal of Hamas as a terrorist threat.”

Former prime minister Scott Morrison visited Israel in November with former British prime minister Boris Johnson, visiting a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip that suffered one of the worst attacks on October 7.

Morrison's predecessor Malcolm Turnbull accused Morrison of showboating, describing him and Johnson as “two guys with plenty of time”.

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