Ambassador Amir Maimon was expected to address members of state parliament in Adelaide tomorrow at an event organised by the SA Parliamentary Friends of Israel about three months ago.

InDaily understands the visit was cancelled by the ambassador’s office on Monday morning due to security concerns.

This follows reports on Friday that Israel is shutting its embassies around the world after attacking Iran’s capital of Tehran.

According to Reuters, Israel’s embassy websites in Europe provided statements that consular services will not be provided and urged citizens to cooperate with local security services if faced with hostile activity.

The Canberra Embassy of Israel has no such statement on its website, but calls to various extensions within the embassy have gone unanswered at a variety of times on Friday, June 13 and Monday, June 16.

InDaily contacted the embassy for comment and did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The ambassador was due to speak to SA parliamentarians and take questions at the event on Tuesday.

Invitations were sent out by the SA Parliamentary Friends of Israel co-chairs, Liberal MLC Dennis Hood and Labor MLC Tung Ngo on June 10.

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Speaking to InDaily before the cancellation, Hood said the visit would have come at no cost to the South Australian taxpayer.

The Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) planned to protest the visit on the Parliament House steps at 12pm on Tuesday.

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Organisers said they intend to go ahead with protest action tomorrow, because even in the absence of the ambassador, they believe their point that SA Parliament should not have issued the invitation is still valid.

AFOPA spokesperson Mike Khizam said they question the judgment of the state politicians who organised, and would have attended, the visit.

“It shows an indifference to what Israel is doing,” Khizam said.

“It shows an indifference also to the feelings of the South Australian public, which similarly to most Australians, have been horrified by the scenes they’ve seen from Gaza.”

Khizam said it’s “an uphill battle just to get the issue debated” and parliamentarians shouldn’t privilege Israel with a platform to defend its actions in SA parliament.

Hood said the SA Parliamentary Friends of Israel were aware of the protest action planned, and they hoped it would still have been a peaceful visit for the ambassador.

“The reality is that the parliament should be a place where democracy thrives and all views are represented,” Hood said.

“I think that unfortunately, our civil discourse has descended to be more aggressive and even violent at some times, which in the past was rarely the case.

“I think most Australians would be disappointed by that, as I am. The ambassador represents a Western-style, liberal democracy, he poses no threat to anybody, and his safety and security should be respected.”

SAPOL said that while they can not comment on security arrangements in the context of the ambassador’s visit, generally, “sufficient police resources are provided to ensure a peaceful protest is held, to minimise traffic disruptions and that the safety of all members of the community is maintained”.

SA Greens MLC Robert Simms said he welcomes the news that the event has been cancelled.

“It would have been clearly inappropriate for this event to proceed, particularly in light of Israel’s bombing of Iran in defiance of international law in recent days,” Simms said.

After receiving an invitation, SA Greens MLC Robert Simms wrote to the co-chairs that the visit was “inappropriate” and should be cancelled by the parliament.

Simms referenced the findings from Human Rights Watch and a UN special committee that Israeli authorities have committed acts of genocide in Gaza and federal government sanctions against two Israeli ministers as reasons for the event to be cancelled.

Hood said that the Parliamentary Friends of Israel “considered” Simms’ concerns after receiving his response, but ultimately, they had no bearing on the event’s cancellation.

“What is inappropriate is an attempt to curtail free speech and open discourse in the centre of our democracy in South Australia being the parliament,” Hood said.

“It’s important that all sides and views are represented in Parliament on all issues, including this one.”

Flinders University senior lecturer in international relations Jessica Genauer said it’s unlikely we will see a strong escalation in Australia’s action or involvement towards the conflict, as the federal government takes a “quite moderate” approach.

“I do think that generally, when it comes to Israel, the Australian Federal Government and the South Australian state leadership are in a very tricky position, and navigate and walk a difficult line,” Genauer said.

“On the one hand, they’re trying to maintain a good working relationship with Israel, because Australia does have joint and mutual interests with Israel.

“But on the other hand, given that there’s a Labor government at the federal level, a Labor government at the state level, understanding that there is a core constituency for them, not the entirety of their supporters, but there is a core constituency who feel that the government needs to take more action against Israel.”

The ambassador was contacted by InDaily for comment.