A proposal by Liberal Party members to relocate the Australian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been slammed by the Australian National Imams Council as offensive and poorly timed, after it was introduced at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
More than 100 Liberal MPs met in Sydney for the party’s 60th annual federal council this month, where they were presented with a controversial motion to follow the US by moving the embassy to Jerusalem.
The suggestion was met with strong resistance from Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, who stressed that the federal government had no plans to go through with the proposal.
The motion was passed at 43 votes to 37.
Under Liberal Party regulations, motions passed at the federal council are not binding and usually have no impact on policy, but the Australian National Imams Council was not impressed by the sentiment.
A statement by the ANIC strongly condemned the proposal and accused the government of picking sides in the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Read the article by Rhian Deutrom in The Australian.