Australia cancels its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel News of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Secretary of State Penny Wong said the government “regrets” the previous administration’s decision and affirms its commitment to a two-state solution.

Australia has said it will no longer recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing a decision made by the government of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2018.

“Today the government reaffirmed Australia’s longstanding position that Jerusalem is a final status issue that must be resolved as part of any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people,” Secretary of State Penny Wong said in a statement.

“This reflects the Morrison government’s recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

Wong emphasized that Australia’s embassy will remain in Tel Aviv and that Canberra is committed to a two-state solution “in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist, in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders.”

“We will not support an approach that undermines this possibility,” she added.

condition Jerusalem It is one of the biggest sticking points in attempts to reach a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel regards the entire city, including the eastern sector it annexed after the 1967 war, as its capital while Palestinian officials, with broad international support, want occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state they hope to establish in the occupied West. Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority commends this step

The Palestinian Authority praised the Australian move, which is likely to shed light on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

“We welcome Australia’s decision regarding Jerusalem and its call for a two-state solution in accordance with international legitimacy,” Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh said on Twitter.

The Sheikh praised Australia’s assertion that the future of sovereignty over Jerusalem depends on a permanent solution based on international legitimacy.

Shahram Akbarzadeh of Deakin University said the Australian move would revive the international consensus on the status of Jerusalem.

“Australia used to be walking away from that consensus but now they are back in it.

“This will certainly shed light on the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the future of the two-state solution,” he told Al Jazeera from Melbourne, adding that the international community bears a great responsibility to address this long-standing problem.

There is an international consensus that the status of Jerusalem should be determined as part of larger negotiations about the future of two states within Israel and Palestine. They cannot be separated from this matter.”

Reporting from West Jerusalem, Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith said that despite the “minor changes” with Wong’s announcement, it was nonetheless symbolic.

He added that “most countries recognize that the final status of Jerusalem will be determined in talks about a Palestinian state and that the Palestinians want East Jerusalem as their capital.”

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid strongly criticized Australia’s decision on Tuesday.

Lapid called the move a “hasty reaction”, adding: “We can only hope that the Australian government manages other matters more seriously and professionally.

The Prime Minister said in a statement issued by his office: “Jerusalem is the eternal and united capital of Israel and nothing will change it at all.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Australian ambassador to lodge an official protest.

Former Australian Prime Minister Morrison has announced that his Conservative government will recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after the United States rolled back decades of policy by recognizing the city and moving the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

The Australian decision was widely criticized by pro-Palestinian groups as well as by the Labor Party, which at the time was in opposition and promised to cancel the move if elected.