Netanyahu loves flying so much that he extended his airtime two hours en route to Sydney. Just kidding--what actually happened is that his plane bypassed flying over Indonesia, which has the largest population of Muslims in the world (around 202 million, or 87% of the population, according to statistics).
The reason for the detour is unclear. The Guardian gave the impression that Netanyahu denied any problems between the two nations and assured a group of Indonesian journalists that he had tons of Indonesian friends on Facebook, while Iranian news sites reported that Indonesia had forbidden entry into its airspace.
The one thing that is clear is that Australians on social media were less than thrilled about the Israeli Prime Minister’s visit.
Take this tweet, in which the author depicts a new view of Australia upon Netanyahu’s arrival:
BREAKING: Netanyahu marks beginning of Australia visit by bulldozing Opera House & announcing plans to build settlements in Sydney's west.
— Kenny Devine (@TheKennyDevine) February 22, 2017
This Twitter user encourages people to retweet his message about the Prime Minister of Australia in relation to the visit:
I may only be #onevoice however I am absolutely disgusted with @TurnbullMalcolm for allowing @netanyahu to visit Australia. If you can, RT
— Ian (@Saints_Dragons) February 21, 2017
It's awesome to have Benyamin Netanyahu in Australia, giving our Government advice on how to turn fully fascist.
— Dave Donovan (@davrosz) February 22, 2017
Hell, even the former Australian Prime minister said something about the bloke (means, ‘guy’ in Australian).
Kevin Rudd not happy with comments by Netanyahu. This from his Facebook page. pic.twitter.com/VvJL0LqDUa
— Henry Belot (@Henry_Belot) February 22, 2017
It seems like the general consensus among Aussies isn’t great for Netanyahu. Better luck next time, Bibi!
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