Australia reverses Israel capital decision
The Albanese government has reversed a decision by the previous coalition government to recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Penny Wong
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the conflict between Israel and Palestine should be resolved through peace negotiations between the two.
Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital.
Senator Wong said Jerusalem remains a final-status issue, meaning its status is subject to peace negotiations.
She described the move to recognise West Jerusalem by former prime minister Scott Morrison as purely political.
“The 2018 decision put Australia out of step with the majority of the international community and it was received with great concern,” she said on Tuesday.
“This was a cynical play, unsuccessfully, to win the seat of Wentworth at a by-election.”
“I regret that Mr Morrison’s decision to play politics resulted in Australia’s shifting position, and the distress these shifts have caused,” she said, expressing Canberra’s commitment to a two-state solution.
The decision was made by cabinet on Tuesday morning, but the Department of Foreign Affairs had moved ahead of the decision to update the Israel page on its website.
Senator Wong said while the updating of the website occurred ahead of government processes, she would not put the blame on anyone.
“That happens, that’s why I am here today making sure we are clear about our position,” she said.
She added: “Australia will always be a steadfast friend of Israel. We were among the first countries to formally recognise Israel under Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley. This Government will not waver in its support of Israel and the Jewish community in Australia.
We are equally unwavering supporters of the Palestinian people, providing humanitarian support every year since 1951 and advocating for resumed peace negotiations.”
A spokeswoman for Scott Morrison told AAP the decision was disappointing.
“(It) represents a further diminution in Australia’s support for the state of Israel by the Labor government from the high water mark established by the Morrison government,” she said.
The foreign minister reaffirmed Australia’s support for the Israeli community and the Palestinian people.
“I regret that Mr Morrison’s decision to play politics resulted in Australia’s shifting position and the distress these shifts have caused,” she said, expressing Canberra’s commitment to a two-state solution.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton left the door open for the coalition to abandon Mr Morrison’s policy, telling reporters: “We’ll make an announcement about our policy in the run-up to the next election.”
He said the announcement was an attempted distraction to draw attention away from Labor’s upcoming budget and its lack of a plan to deal with the rising cost of living.
Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said the handling of the situation was unfortunate.
The former minister said he stood by the Morrison government’s decision but did not comment on whether it remained coalition policy.
“The decision making and the process seems to have been very incoherent, very ad hoc and has caught everyone by surprise,” he said.
“There doesn’t seem to be any basis as to why they’ve taken this decision.”
Liberal MP Julian Leeser told J-Wire: “Three positions in 24 hours shows how shambolic Labor’s foreign policy is.
Before the election, Mark Dreyfus and Josh Burns wrote in the Australian Jewish News that there is no difference between the Morrison Government’s policy and Labor’s policy on Israel. This decision shows that is just not true.
West Jerusalem has been part of the State of Israel since its establishment in 1948. The Knesset is there. The President lives there. the Supreme Court is there. It looks like any other capital city to me. The question is, why can’t Labor see that too?
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it will summon the Australian ambassador over the issue, the Associated Press reported.
In Jerusalem, Israel’s prime minister Yair Lapid said: “In light of the way in which this decision was made in Australia, as a hasty response to an incorrect report in the media, we can only hope that the Australian government manages other matters more seriously and professionally.
Jerusalem is the eternal and united capital of Israel and nothing will ever change that.”
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Jillian Segal joined co-CEOs Peter Wertheim and Alex Ryvchin have penned a lengthy response.
They wrote: “We are extremely disappointed by the Government’s decision to withdraw Australia’s recognition of west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel without public consultation or opportunity for public debate and in a conspicuously opaque manner. Stakeholders have simply been presented with a fait accomplit. That is not consultation.
The timing of this morning’s cabinet decision was clearly media-driven. The status of Jerusalem is an important foreign policy issue, and it is demeaning for Australia to have its international position changed in such a shoddy manner.
This Government has been highly critical of the previous Prime Minister for making key policy decisions “by stealth” to evade “public accountability”. The government’s decision to change Australia’s position on west Jerusalem suffers from precisely these defects.
Aside from being poor policy, the withdrawal of Australia’s recognition that Israel’s capital is in Jerusalem is a gratuitous insult to a key economic and strategic ally, with no countervailing benefit for Australians. This is no way to treat an ally whose intelligence-sharing with Australia has prevented at least one terrorist attack against Australians that we know of.
This decision panders to the most extreme elements of the Labor Party and will also serve as a disincentive for the Palestinians to return to negotiations. Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel, the site of its parliament, supreme court, Ministerial offices and President’s residence. West Jerusalem has been part of Israel’s territory since the State was established in 1948.
The arguments advanced by opponents of recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, namely that it would ignite unrest in the Arab world, were shown to be manipulative and inaccurate, as five Arab countries have signed normalisation agreements with Israel in the intervening period.
We further note with regret that this decision was communicated to us on the Jewish holy day of Simchat Torah when we were precluded from making any public response. There is a bitter irony in the fact that the government made its decision in the way that it did on a day when Jews celebrate receiving the Torah, the ethical basis of western civilisation.”
ZFA President Jeremy Leibler said: “The decision by the Albanese Government to reverse Australia’s recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is deeply disappointing and counterproductive to achieving the Government’s objective of a two-state solution. Every other sovereign country is allowed to determine the location of its capital. Israel should be treated no differently. When the previous government recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, it was recognising the reality on the ground – something that every Australian Government in effect acknowledges when they visit the Prime Minister of Israel and the Knesset in Jerusalem. Every single proposal to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has West Jerusalem remaining the capital of Israel. Recognising this does not in any way pre-determine the outcome of negotiations”.
Mr Leibler continued, “The decision today has been welcomed by Hamas – an organisation designated by the Australian Government as a terrorist organisation. That alone should cause the Albanese Government to reflect on this decision. Sadly, in making this decision, the Albanese Government is holding the State of Israel to a different standard to any other sovereign nation and doing so will reward those who refuse to recognise the reality on the ground and negotiate a much-needed resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.
Mr Leibler concluded: “The timing and process in announcing this decision has sent a very unfortunate message to Israel, a close and important ally of Australia and will cause deep upset within the Australian Jewish community”.
Long-serving NSW State Labor MP Walt Secord said: “As NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel deputy chair and the Labor Israel Action Committee NSW Patron, I am disappointed.”
AJA President, Dr David Adler said, “The Albanese Government has made a habit of gifting the Jewish Community with nasty surprises on our High Holidays. This latest anti-Israel move follows the doubling of Australian aid to the extremist UNRWA on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). Once more, as the Jewish community celebrated our Holy Day of Simchat Torah, the shocking news broke that Labor has reversed Australia’s limited recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital.’
The Albanese government announcement will not help peace but will embolden enemies of Israel including jihadist terrorist groups, to maintain demands disconnected from reality and continue violence.”
AAP/J-Wire
David – you will be waiting a very long time.
Penny Wong’s commitment of the Labor Party to the failed 29 years old unresolved two-state solution is pathetic.
United Kingdom Labour Friends of Israel have pointed out 30 steps needed to resume negotiations on the two-state solution after a 9 year negotiating void – which could take light years to achieve. This farce needs to be ended without further ado. To keep on flogging a dead horse is futile.
There is an alternative solution that emerged in June emanating from Saudi Arabia – the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution. Under that proposal Jerusalem would be recognized as the capital of Israel only and the two-state solution would be shredded.
I sent Ms Wong a copy of this latest Saudi proposal in June and a reminder in July inviting her comments. I am still waiting for an answer.
Lets see who will be game enough to speak out [or at least put their name to] on this issue with both sides of the community having vested interests in politics..
I could hardly bear to listen to Penny Wong speaking about this decision by Labor. I feel so angry, not necessarily about the decision itself (which we all knew was coming), but due to the ignorance and arrogance of Wong’s words. Who is she and/or the Labor government she’s representing, to even have an opinion of which city is the capital of Israel! It beggars belief. It really does. Of course, that goes for the rest of the world, too, so euphemistically referred to as ‘the international community’, as if it’s a given that it’s right-thinking if it’s the international community. What a lot of codswallop it all is. And how extraordinarily irrelevant, too.
This article doesn’t mention Penny Wong referring to Indonesia in her speech, which she did. What possible reason is there for singling out Indonesia in relation to the subject, a nation with the largest Muslim population in the world. – 231 million of them – where is she going with that? Of course, they’re going to be pleased with this decision. Maybe she should have mentioned Malaysia as well, where if you’re travelling on an Israeli passport you can’t even enter the country.
Disgusting. I could accept the Labor Party decision as the fait accompli it is (due to the political knowledge I have) if they were at least honest about it. But they’re not. Penny Wong, our Foreign Affairs Minister, waffling on with empty words making up false rhetoric. Support Israel and the Jewish community indeed! Don’t bother to say it.