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Australia said on Tuesday it would no longer recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, overturning a controversial decision by the former conservative government.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the city’s status should be determined through peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, not unilateral decisions.
“We will not support an approach that undermines” the two-state solution, she said, adding that “the Australian embassy has been and remains in Tel Aviv”.
In 2018, the conservative government led by Scott Morrison followed the lead of former US President Donald Trump in naming West Jerusalem the capital of Israel.
The move sparked a domestic backlash in Australia and created friction with neighbouring Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country – temporarily undermining a free trade agreement.
Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem, and most foreign governments have avoided officially declaring it the capital of any country.
“I know this has caused conflict and suffering in part of the Australian community and today the government is looking to address that,” Wong said.
She accused the Morrison government of being motivated by a by-election in Sydney’s seaside suburb, which has a sizable Jewish community.
“You know what this is? It was a cynical game that didn’t work out, winning the Wentworth seat and by-election.”
The centre-left Labour party takes power in May 2022 with Anthony Albanese as prime minister and Wong as foreign minister.
Huang insisted that the decision did not indicate any hostility towards Israel.
“Australia will always be a steadfast friend of Israel. We were one of the first countries to officially recognize Israel,” she said.
“We will not waver in our support for Israel and the Australian Jewish community. We are equally unwavering in our support for the Palestinian people, including humanitarian support.”
Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, declaring the entire city “the eternal and indivisible capital.”
Palestinians claim the east to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Symbolism
Canberra’s decision is unlikely to come as a shock to the Israeli government.
The language of the Israeli capital was removed from the website of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, heralding a policy reversal.
But Ran Porat, a historian and researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, said it could be unsettling.
Although Australia is not a major player in peace talks, he said: “In the Middle East in general, symbolism is at the centre of many conflicts. Symbolism cannot be ignored, it is not unimportant.”
The move could be seized by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, Israel’s opposition, as evidence of the government’s defeat ahead of Nov. 1 elections.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid would be disappointed, Porat added, but the response “must be torn between disagreement and not deteriorating relations with Canberra”.
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