Paul Kelly’s column on the foolishness of the proposed Jerusalem shift demonstrates pragmatism and foresight (“There is no upside in Jerusalem shift”, 17/11).
Scott Morrison’s floating the idea of the Jerusalem shift for local political reasons was irresponsible and harmful to Australia.
Deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg’s view on this matter is equally harmful to Australia. Even for the mighty US, the Jerusalem shift has caused loss of trust among its friends — only Guatemala and two Pacific island nations support the US policy on this issue.
Australia is a trading nation. Our prosperity depends on trading with our neighbours. We would be in dire straits if we ignore our neighbours’ wishes.
It was heartening to hear Josh Frydenberg say the location of our embassy in Israel should be decided in Australia’s national interest. If that is the case the embassy will remain where it is.
Our future is inextricably tied to the 264 million people on the doorstep whether we like it or not. Darwin is closer to Jakarta that every Australian capital. I doubt any security or trade assessment would find Israel more important to us than Indonesia.
Paul Kelly omits an inconvenient truth in presenting his otherwise coherent case for not moving the Australian embassy to Jerusalem. Kelly asks why Australia should “put itself in that tiny minority of countries — the US, Guatemala and perhaps a couple of others”.
Among those couple of others is Brazil whose new President Jair Bolsonaro plans to move Brazil’s embassy to Jerusalem.
I have to disagree with Paul Kelly. Perhaps the Prime Minister in his attempt to retain Wentworth at the recent by-election not only saw the potential of the Jewish vote, but also an issue that would provide him with much-needed status as a man prepared to take a foreign policy stance.
Kelly appears to have fallen for the big stick being wielded by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Widodo has to be seen as taking a strong stand for domestic political reasons. For Mahathir, his strategy has been to show his Malaysian constituents that he is strong enough to issue a threat to Australia.
Should the PM back down it will be a public relations victory for Widodo and Mathathir being able to sway Australia’s foreign and trade policies, and it will be used by Labor, the Greens and the Palestine lobby to highlight Morrison’s weakness.
Now that Morrison has stated his position, he should be unwavering, especially since John Howard and a clutch of Coalition MPs have come out in support of the move.
Paul Kelly has failed to establish a valid argument as to why Australia should not relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Possible adverse reactions from Islamic countries is not a valid reason. Australia does not need to, and should not tiptoe around the sensitivities of Islamic countries.
Australia, with a Judaeo-Christian foundation, has an obligation to support the Jewish state of Israel, the only democratic country in the Middle East. What better way of showing our support than establishing our embassy in the nation’s capital — as we do in other countries.
Why not open an embassy in west Jerusalem and an embassy to Palestine in east Jerusalem? The Israelis should be happy, and the Muslim world as well — for the overdue recognition of Palestine.
Malaysian leader Mahathir, who has chosen to meddle in an Australian foreign policy decision that does not affect his country in any way, has been known for many years as a virulent anti-Semite who would make even Hitler seem like a moderate.
On one occasion, when an American orchestra was on its way to play in Malaysia he told it not to play anything composed by a Jew.
So, good on you, Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg. Continue to tell this bigot to get lost. He has no standing among decent people.
These letters appeared in The Australian.