The Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, had a secret meeting with Australia’s director general of security, Mike Burgess, during his visit to Australia last month, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has confirmed.

Under questioning in the Senate from the ACT independent senator David Pocock on Tuesday, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, said questions about Asio “were often very sensitive”, but refused to confirm the meeting.

Outside parliament, Pocock said he believed it was “unprecedented” for a foreign head of state to be granted access to the domestic intelligence facility.

Later on Tuesday, an Asio spokesperson confirmed the meeting to the Guardian.

“Australian intelligence agencies maintain strong and enduring working relationships with their foreign partners,” the spokesperson said.

“The president met with the Director-General of Security, and was briefed by ASIO’s counter-terrorism team on their work following the Bondi attack. Meetings such as this are important opportunities to discuss global threats and strengthen international cooperation.”

Herzog attended several public events in Australia, as well as declared meetings with political leaders. There was no visit to Asio headquarters or any other intelligence facility on his public-facing schedule.

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Israel, alongside the US, launched a series of airstrikes on Iran at the weekend, that included missile strikes which killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel is not part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network of which Australia is a member.

In Senate question time, Pocock asked: “Did Israeli president Isaac Herzog visit Asio headquarters during the course of his recent trip to Australia?”

Wong responded that she was “not in a position where I can answer your question”.

“Obviously, in relation to that particular entity, we are cautious about what is said. But I can provide some further information on notice.”

Pressed on whether she was personally aware if Herzog visited Asio, Wong told the Senate: “Questions about that agency are often very sensitive.

“You ask about one of Australia’s security agencies, now obviously they’ve … been extensively involved in the investigation and circumstances of the Bondi attack. If I am able to provide you with further information, senator, I will.”

Outside the Senate chamber, Pocock told the Guardian he was disappointed the government would neither confirm nor deny the president’s Asio visit, saying Australians deserved greater transparency from their government.

“Constituents raised with me a concern that the Israeli head of state, president Isaac Herzog, visited Asio headquarters in the course of his recent visit to Australia. The stated purpose of this visit was to provide support to Australia’s Jewish community.

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

Herzog was invited in the wake of the antisemitic Bondi massacre in December, in which 15 people were killed. In Australia last month, Herzog said his four-day visit was one of solidarity. “I have come here in goodwill and in a message that the people of Australia and Israel are close friends and allies since the days of old,” he said.

But the trip was mired in controversy, and the government faced significant criticism, even from within its own parliamentary ranks, for inviting the president of a state accused of committing genocide in Gaza.

Protests followed Herzog’s presence in every city he visited, and the Sydney demonstrations were marred by police violence, including officers punching protesters and dragging Muslim men who were praying.

Herzog, elected by the Knesset to the largely ceremonial position of president in 2021, was personally named by the UN commission of inquiry as having incited genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry has previously rejected the commission’s report as “distorted and false”.

Shortly after the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023, Herzog said all Gazans were responsible for the violence which killed 1,200 people: “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible,” he said. “It is not true, this rhetoric about civilians who were not aware and not involved. It is absolutely not true.”

Herzog later qualified his statement, and said he had been taken out of context, noting he also said Israeli soldiers would follow international law.

More than 70,000 Gazans, including 20,000 children, have been killed by Israeli attacks on the occupied territory since 2023.

In late 2023, Herzog was pictured signing an Israeli artillery shell being prepared to be dropped on Gaza, writing in Hebrew on the munition: “I rely on you.”

He later conceded it was “an error” to sign the shell, and “lacking taste”.

The Guardian has put questions about the visit to the office of President Herzog and the home affairs minister.