The Victorian government had reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Israel’s defense ministry in 2022 to strengthen defense cooperation and trade relations.
Victorian government documents, which were released under freedom of information laws, revealed that the MoU was signed before the start of the Israel-Gaza war, and was aimed at the nations wanting to “protect their national interests” militarily and supporting “greater collaboration on defence industry objectives,” The Guardian reported.
Although the state administration has not yet publicized the details, ABC reported in January that Victoria had discreetly struck a deal with Israel’s Ministry of Defense to promote commerce and identify innovative industrial enterprises.
Guardian Australia revealed that the MoU sent to them was completely redacted.
However, the talking points had mentioned that the MoU sought to “promote economic links between the Victorian and Israeli military, aerospace, security, and cybersecurity industries.” Global tensions and the necessity of “defense alliances and industry cooperation” were also mentioned in the notes.
The secret deal Victoria had with the Israeli Defense Ministry was highlighted by Ellen Sandell, leader of the Victorian Greens.
“It’s very clear from these documents that Victorian Labor is in bed with the Israeli Defence Ministry. These documents expose that Labor signed an MOU to ‘capture opportunities’ from increased tension and militarisation overseas,” Sandell was quoted by Mirage News, as saying.
“Documents acquired by my office confirm that Victorian Labor is supporting Israel’s military who have continued to bomb Palestine, displacing and killing tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, yet Labor refuses to rip up their MOU with them.”
“The Victorian Government is clearly far more invested in Israel’s military project than they are admitting to. The Victorian public will no doubt have a lot of questions around what exactly is in this MOU now that we know it wasn’t about creating jobs like the Premier claims.”
