Australia to strengthen objection to Israeli settlements

Australia will strengthen its objections to the Israeli government’s planned settlement expansion and is “gravely concerned” by activities that hinder the prospect of peace in the region. 

Foreign Minister Penny Wong responded to questions during a caucus briefing for Labor MPs on Tuesday about planned Israeli government settlements in the West Bank.

Senator Wong said the government was seeking to strengthen its objection to the settlements by affirming they are illegal under international law and a significant obstacle to peace.

“This is consistent with a position of past governments, reflects legal advice and United Nations Security Council resolutions which determined that the settlements have no legal validity and constitute a violation of international law,” she told the Senate.

The minister also said she would be returning Australia to the position of previous governments of referring to “Palestinian occupied territories”.

This decision matches that of Australia’s key diplomatic partners, such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the European Union.

“In adopting the term we are clarifying that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, were occupied by Israel following the 1967 war and that the occupation continues,” Senator Wong said.

“It reaffirms our commitment to negotiate a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist.”

The Israeli government’s plan to build thousands of new buildings in the occupied West Bank has faced wide objection from nations around the world.

Most countries deem the settlements, built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, illegal.

Their presence is one of the fundamental issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In June, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the settlements as “a flagrant violation of international law”.

Senator Wong reiterated the conflict was not a partisan issue.

“Australia does continue to call out unfair and disproportionate targeting of Israel in international forums,” she said.

The Zionist Federation of Australia and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry are deeply concerned by the Government’s statement and change in language about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The ECAJ and ZFA are representative peak bodies of the Australian Jewish community. ECAJ President Jillian Segal and ZFA President Jeremy Leibler jointly stated: “The change in language is inaccurate, ahistorical and counterproductive.”

Describing East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza as ‘occupied Palestinian territories’ effectively denies any Jewish claim to the West Bank and Jerusalem. The most important Jewish holy sites of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall are in East Jerusalem, and there has been an unbroken Jewish presence in the West Bank for thousands of years. Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to negotiate the division of the West Bank between them. Describing the territories as ‘Palestinian’ not only pre-empts the outcome of negotiations but is counterproductive.

Palestinians and Israelis agreed in 1993 that the settlements and the division of the West Bank and Gaza would be subject to final status negotiations. The Foreign Minister has previously stated that Australia should not pre-empt the outcome of final status issues. It is regrettable that the government has now done that.

Palestinian terrorism against Israeli targets has risen dramatically, and Palestinian leadership has refused to enter into negotiations with Israel in the last two years. Instead of attempting to pre-empt the outcome of negotiations in favour of a party that refuses to negotiate, the Australian Government should be urging the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table.

It is concerning that just as Arab states are moving closer to Israel and normalising relations, this announcement moves Australia in the opposite direction. The announcement will be used by Israeli and Palestinian hardliners to bolster support within their respective constituencies and put a peace agreement further out of reach.

The Labor leadership ought to push back against factions within Labor, and instead work to re-establish a sensible, centrist and sustainable bipartisan position on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict must not become a political football”.

New Israel Fund (NIF) Australia welcomed Foreign Minister Wong’s statement,

In a statement released by Michael Chaitow, NIF stated: “Since the election of the Netanyahu government last year, settlement approvals and settler violence have reached a record high, receiving widespread condemnation from the Australian government and from our allies in Britain, Canada, Europe, and the United States.

As a community of progressive Jews and supporters, NIF is committed to investing in Israeli civil society to support human and civil rights organisations. We are dedicated to building a liberal democracy in Israel that supports a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

NIF welcomes Australia’s decision to recognise the fact that the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, and that they have only served to further hinder peacebuilding efforts between Israelis and Palestinians, as UN resolution 2334, hundreds of academics and a range of Jewish organisations have noted.

Since Prime Minister Netanyahu appointed former settlement leader and self-described “proud homophobe”, Bezalel Smotrich, MK, in charge of settlement activity within the Defense Ministry, we have seen nearly 600 settler attacks and more than 20,000 housing units advanced in settlements – the highest levels on record.

NIF is committed to a Jewish homeland in Israel and welcomes Foreign Minister Wong’s support for the state of Israel as home for the Jewish people. We support the Australian Government’s commitment to fight anti-semitism and Holocaust denial. NIF will continue to invest in civil society in Israel to safeguard the rights of all groups living in Israel and under its control in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

But the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) expressed its profound disappointment at the decision.

AIJAC Executive Director Colin Rubenstein said: “It is incredibly counter-productive to label these areas as occupied Palestinian territories, with the Government purporting to know what the boundaries of any future two-state resolution will look like. The Palestinian Authority has long refused to genuinely engage in the peace process, instead encouraging terrorism and vilifying Israel in all available international fora and at every opportunity.  For a respected democracy such as Australia to take such a one-sided position only rewards and encourages the continuation of these destructive Palestinian tactics.

“This new Australian position – in contradiction of the publicly-stated positions of like-minded democracies such as the US and Canada – flies in the face of previous comments by the Foreign Minister that final status issues should only be resolved by negotiations between the parties. This was the rationale for reversing the previous government’s recognition of Israel having the same right as any other country to declare where its capital is – in this case, in west Jerusalem.

“While the Jerusalem decision clearly did not actually affect final status issues, given that no one disputes west Jerusalem will remain in Israel in any two-state resolution, purporting to determine which territory is ‘Palestinian’ is very much taking a position on a final status issue. As the Government is well aware, no Palestinian state has ever existed. Israel captured the West Bank and Jerusalem from Jordan  – which illegally occupied the areas – in a defensive war. At the time any Palestinian state is established, its territory must be determined by final status negotiations, not baseless legal claims made in foreign capitals, or based on politicised and unhelpful UN votes.

“The legal status of the settlements and the West Bank more generally are indeed complicated questions, with varying views from learned experts. It should not be the role of our Government to make such legal determinations.

“That aside, the most concerning element of the new government policy is the idea that any Jewish presence in any part of the West Bank, where Jews have lived for thousands of years, and in east Jerusalem, where Judaism’s holiest sites are located, is illegal simply because the Jordanians ethnically cleansed the areas of Jews for 19 years. Asserting that the Western Wall and Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest sites, are ‘Palestinian territory’ is highly unacceptable.

“This decision will make it extremely difficult for Australia to present itself as a credible and effective advocate for a two-state peace. The Government’s stance strains our long-standing bipartisan national policy of supporting a negotiated two-state peace.

President of Zionism Victoria Yossi Goldfarb said: “Given the government has previously indicated it would not pre-empt the outcome of final status issues, it is deeply concerning that the Labor Party is now doing precisely that. 

“It has long been agreed by both Israel, the Palestinian leadership and the broader international community that the status of the West Bank and Jerusalem should be determined through negotiation so as to address the claims of both sides. 

“In labelling the West Bank and East Jerusalem as ‘occupied Palestinian territories’, the government is  prejudging the outcome of talks and eradicating both the legitimate claim and historical connection of the Jewish people to land that lies at the very heart of their national identity. 

“Having already reversed Australian recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, it is distressing and alarming that the Labor government appears to be effectively denying Jewish ties to East Jerusalem, home of Judaism’s holiest sites, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.”

AAP/J-Wire