ISTANBUL

Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Australia's spy agency during his trip to the country last month, broadcaster SBS News reported on Tuesday.

During his visit, Herzog reportedly met with Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) at the agency's headquarters in Canberra.

ASIO has confirmed the meeting after independent senator David Pocock pressed for answers in parliament, according to the report.

"Australian intelligence agencies maintain strong and enduring working relationships with their foreign partners," a spokesperson for the ASIO said, adding that Herzog was “briefed by ASIO's counter-terrorism team.”

Herzog’s visit to Australia last month sparked mass demonstrations across the country, over his role in Israel's genocide of Gaza.

"A visit by a foreign head of state to the headquarters of our national security and intelligence agency would, I believe, be unprecedented," Pocock said.

A senior intelligence official has told SBS that although a visit like this was uncommon, last December's Bondi Beach attack provided a "reasonable argument that the president could hold talks with Burgess about the continuing threat faced by Jewish Australians."

At least 15 people were killed when two armed men opened fire at a beach in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales.