26 February 2016•Update: 26 February 2016
By Anees Barghouthi and Jill Fraser
JERUSALEM/MELBOURNE
Israel's president has postponed a highly anticipated visit to Australia next month, instead choosing to meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The Australian trip -- which was due to commence March 13 -- was set to be the first Israeli presidential visit in more than a decade.
While Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement that she hopes to visit Israel in the near future and hoped President Reuven Rivlin 's visit could be rescheduled, an unnamed senior Australian official was quoted as telling the ABC that there was much disappointment at the decision.
Much work went into organising events and dates were juggled to accommodate the President, only for Rivlin to suddenly cancel "for a better offer," the ABC reported him as saying Friday.
"People feel angry and taken for granted. It burns goodwill."
On Thursday, The Times of Israel newspaper reported a statement from the President's office as saying that the decision was made following a meeting between the President and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday morning.
Officials had been working in parallel on presidential visits to Australia and Russia.
Haaretz daily reported Thursday that the Australian invitation had been issued two weeks ago, with Russia's delivered just four days ago.
The President’s office statement said that Rivlin had sought to determine which of the two visits was a higher priority for Israel.
“After it was clarified that it was important to hold a meeting with Putin, [the president] accepted it."
The last Israeli head of state to visit Australia was former President of Israel Moshe Katsav in March 2005.
