The Israeli embassy in Canberra has closed due to consular staff striking over an expenses disagreement with the Israel Ministry of Finance.
A post on the embassy's website announced the closure.
"Due to the decision of the ministry of finance to violate agreements reached and signed by the director-general of the ministry on July 21, 2019, and to unilaterally enforce upon diplomats abroad a procedure that contradicts a decades-old procedure, we are forced to close the embassy. No services will be provided to the public and no entry to the embassy will be allowed," the post read.
"Every day we work to promote the status and strength of the state of Israel. Unfortunately, the ministry of finance has left us no choice by harming the tools essential to us and essential for the state of Israel. We hope the matter will be settled as soon as possible."
Calling the Canberra embassy's phone number resulted in a recorded message that said, "We are closed due to a strike, we will reopen once the strike is over".
A report from The Times of Israel, an English language Israeli online newspaper, said embassies and consulates around the world had shut due to strikes.
It reported the strikes related to a long-simmering dispute between consular staff and the ministry of finance with the ministry apparently backtracking on previous agreements which would see staff have to pay back thousands of dollars in expenses.
