Australia on Tuesday overturned a decision made by the previous administration to recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, stating that Israel and the Palestinians should negotiate a peace agreement to determine the city’s status.
Australian?Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, stated that?”will always remain a firm friend of Israel” and is dedicated to the two-state solution, which envisions a future Palestinian state coexisting peacefully with Israel within internationally recognized borders.
In a statement, she said that the government “recommits Australia to international efforts in the responsible pursuit of progress towards a just and long-lasting two-state solution.”
In December 2018, the previous Prime Minister Scott Morrison changed decades of Middle East policy by declaring that Australia recognized West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital but would not immediately move its embassy there.
Donald Trump, a former president of the United States, had recognized Jerusalem as the capital one year prior.
Morrison’s 2018 decision, according to Wong, “put Australia out of pace with the rest of the international community,” and Indonesia, Australia’s neighbor with a majority of Muslims, voiced concern.
She stated, “I regret that Mr. Morrison’s choice to play politics led to Australia’s shifting posture, and the misery these shifts have brought to many Australians who sincerely care about this subject.”
In 2018, just days before a by-election in a Sydney electorate with a sizable Jewish population that his Liberal party lost, Morrison signaled moving the embassy from Tel Aviv.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Cabinet, according to Wong, made the choice on Tuesday.
In May, a Labor-led government took office for the first time in nine years after Morrison’s coalition of liberal politicians lost the election.