The federal government will harden its language on the Palestinian territories, with Labor to begin officially referring to Israel’s settlements in the West Bank as “illegal” and the territories as “occupied”.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced the shift, which has alarmed pro-Israel groups, in Tuesday’s caucus briefing for Labor MPs, according to details of the briefing leaked to this masthead.
Wong expressed frustration during the briefing, according to an MP who attended the meeting and asked not to be named, at the fact the former government had made support for Israel and the potential creation of a Palestinian state a partisan issue.
Wong’s office briefed Jewish and pro-Israel groups about the sensitive decision on Tuesday morning.
According to a post caucus briefing, Wong told the meeting “we are looking to strengthen the government’s objections to settlements by affirming they are illegal under international law and a significant obstacle to peace”.
Wong also said the government would be returning to the position of previous governments of referring to the Palestinian occupied territories.
Sources from the Australian Jewish community described the policy change as “punitive” and “unfortunate”, and said pro-Israel groups would publicly oppose the move.
Wong pointed out that Labor had supported the creation of Israel at the United Nations in 1949 and that the party’s position remained balanced.
In July, Wong and the foreign ministers of Canada and the UK condemned Israel’s expansion of settlement building in the West Bank but did not label the move illegal.
Wong has also previously referred to the Palestinian territories rather than the occupied Palestinian territories in official statements.
Labor’s party platform calls on the government to recognise Palestine as a state but the government has so far given no indication that it will enact the policy.
Wong last year infuriated the Israeli government and Jewish groups by announcing that Australia would no longer recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing a controversial decision by the Morrison government.
Read the article by James Massola and Matthew Knott in The Age.