Israel’s top representative in Australia is urging the Albanese government not to recognise Palestine as a state as Labor seeks to avoid a flare-up over the divisive issue at its upcoming national conference.
Labor’s official policy platform supports Palestinian statehood, but the government is wary of taking such a dramatic step after infuriating Israel last year by announcing Australia would no longer recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The government’s position is being closely watched internationally given recognising Palestine would represent a major break from Australia’s closest allies, but failing to do so would rankle Labor’s progressive base.
In a rare intervention, Israel’s ambassador Amir Maimon told this masthead: “Israel’s position is that the final status of the [Palestinian] territories should be decided by the two parties involved.”
Maimon said senior Australian officials had stated they oppose any unilateral actions that would undermine the peace process and that Israel believes recognising Palestine before a final peace settlement would fall into this category.
Maimon has maintained a low public profile since arriving in Australia last February, but has been active behind the scenes, meeting with many members of the government, including Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
Labor’s most recent national platform, adopted in 2021, “calls on the next Labor government to recognise Palestine as a state” and says the party “expects that this issue will be an important priority for the next Labor government”.
Read the article by Matthew Knott and James Massola in The Age.