Malcolm Turnbull has defended Israel and condemned the United Nations ahead of a visit to Australia by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Turnbull criticised the UN for adopting 20 resolutions critical of Israel between 2014 and 2015 when only one resolution was issued in response to the Syrian war.
"My government will not support one-sided resolutions criticising Israel of the kind recently adopted by the UN Security Council and we deplore the boycott campaigns designed to delegitimise the Jewish state," he wrote in an opinion piece published by The Australian on Wednesday.
"At the same time, we recognise that Israel and the Palestinians need to come to a settlement and we support a directly negotiated two-state solution so that Palestinians will have their own state and the people of Israel can be secure within agreed borders."
Mr Netanyahu will become the first Israeli prime minister to visit Australia when he arrives in Sydney on Wendesday.
Mr Turnbull said despite ties between the two nations, many Australians viewed Israel exclusively through the lens of its conflict with Palestinians.
"They demand that the government take the side of those in the international community who seek to chastise Israel -- and it alone -- for the continuing failure of the peace process."
He urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to restart negotiations over a two-state solution.
"We believe that with so many other larger, more destructive and intractable disputes in the Middle East, this is a time when Israeli and Palestinian leaders, supported by the global community, should return to the negotiating table and work towards a solution that upholds the rights of both peoples to live side by side in peace and security."
