Australia’s Israeli and Palestinian communities are at loggerheads after the government reversed a controversial decision to recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the conflict between Israel and Palestine should be resolved through peace negotiations between the two.
Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2018, and said Australia would move its embassy there from Tel Aviv.
Palestinian diplomats in Australia welcomed the announcement, saying the initial decision was “a flagrant violation of international law”.
“The reversal … is a step in the right direction towards the effective implementation of the two-state solution and achieving a just and durable peace in the Middle East,” the delegation to Australia said.
They have also asked the Australian government to recognise Palestine as a state “without further delay to save the two-state solution”.
However, Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid expressed disappointment in the decision.
“Jerusalem is the eternal undivided capital of Israel and nothing will change that,” Mr Lapid said in a statement.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it will summon the Australian ambassador over the issue, the Associated Press reported.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry attacked the government and branded the reversal as “a gratuitous insult to a key economic and strategic ally”.
Read the article by Dominic Giannini from Australian Associated Press.