Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has acknowledged his government could have better handled its announcement it no longer recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, while defending the decision as returning Australia to the international mainstream.
Albanese’s comments came as more mysterious changes to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) website surfaced, this time through deleted references to democracy and good governance on its Palestinian Territories page.
DFAT caused the government a major headache by removing references to West Jerusalem from its Israel country page, pre-empting an official cabinet decision to no longer recognise the city as Israel’s capital.
The abrupt timing of Tuesday’s announcement, which came on a Jewish holy day and just a fortnight before Israel’s elections, angered the Israeli government, which swiftly called in the Australia’s ambassador for a reprimand.
Two prominent teal independents with large Jewish constituencies, Zoe Daniel and Allegra Spender, joined condemnation of the government’s handling of the issue, describing its actions as “rushed” and “offensive”.
Asked about whether the government had could have managed the issue more effectively, Albanese told ABC radio: “Of course some things can always be done better, but the truth is we have been very clear about what our position was.”
Read the article by Matthew Knott and Rob Harris in The Age.