Among the guests were Lisa Sonnabend, COO of Macquarie Capital, Belinda Hutchinson, Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Dr Annabelle Bennet, former justice of the Federal Court of Australia and Evelyn Danos, Chairperson of James Richardson. Israeli guests included Dr Orna Berry, VP Innovation at EMC’s Center for Global Excellence, Fiona Darmon, Director of JVP and Dr Reem Younis, Co-Founder of Alpha-Omega.

Jerusalem Post journalist ‪Lahav Harkov‬ explained to the Australian guests the complexities of the Israeli political system.

Before Lucy Turnbull presented a gift to her hosts she told guests that her husband, Prime Minister ‪Malcolm Turnbull‬, is actually a distant relative of the Ambassador’s wife Rachel Lord‬ who are both descendants of Owen Cavanough, a seaman on the First Fleet.

Jillian Segal said: “I thought it was a chutzpah to call our delegation a “Women Leaders Mission” until I learned what incredible women have come here. They have great interest in the business community in Israel and in learning from a country that has reinvented itself as the start-up nation what they can about the ecosystem as well as what goes into making an innovation culture.”