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AUSTRALIA-ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-DIPLOMACY-MALAYSIA
Australia reaffirms Israel decision despite backlash
SYDNEY, Dec 16, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Australia’s conservative prime minister
on Sunday stood by his decision to recognise west Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel, despite criticism from neighbouring Muslim countries.
Canberra became one of a handful of governments to follow US President
Donald Trump’s lead and recognise the contested city as Israel’s capital,
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had announced Saturday.
But a contentious embassy shift from Tel Aviv — a proposal made during a
crucial Sydney by-election that critics said was timed to attract Jewish
voters — will not occur until a peace settlement is achieved.
Australia’s Muslim-majority neighbour Malaysia said Sunday it “strongly
opposes” the decision to recognise west Jerusalem.
The announcement was “premature and a humiliation to the Palestinians and
their struggle for the right to self-determination,” the government said in a
statement advocating a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
Australia’s immediate neighbour Indonesia, the world’s most populous
Muslim nation, was angered by the embassy move proposal in the run-up to the
by-election, and said Saturday it “notes” the decision.
Citing Jakarta’s response, Morrison said Sunday that the international
reaction had been “measured” and that his decision would progress a two-state
solution.
“I think the responses that we have seen from countries so far has been
measured,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
“Australia would continue to respect a two-state outcome that remained our
goal as strongly as ever.”
Israel’s embassy in Canberra on Sunday said the decision was a “step in
the right direction”.
Both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.
Most foreign nations avoided moving embassies there to prevent inflaming
peace talks on the city’s final status — until Trump unilaterally moved the
US embassy earlier this year.
Morrison’s embattled coalition slipped into a minority government after
losing the Sydney by-election in October, which followed the Liberal party’s
ousting of the local member and then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1114 hrs