The nation’s peak Jewish body has written to Labor MPs outlining its concerns about Albanese government’s push to recognise “Occupied Palestinian Territories”, as it ramps up its opposition as the ALP’s national conference begins in Brisbane today.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry also wrote to independent and opposition MPs on Tuesday outlining its concerns about the policy shift, which will see the party recognise Israeli settlements as “illegal” and declare the West Bank and Gaza as “Occupied Palestinian Territories”.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced the move at the last Labor caucus meeting before this week’s national conference, where the party’s hard-Left arm is expected to push for the next Labor government to recognise a Palestinian.
The letter, signed by co-chief executives Peter Wertheim and Alex Ryvchin, said that the Jewish community has “serious concerns about this decision and the significant and practical consequences that flow from it”.
It also warned that the shift could be used by Israeli and Palestinian hardliners to “bolster support within their respective constituencies and put a peace agreement further out of reach”.
“The legal and practical reasons against recognition come down to a simple fact; there is at present no Palestinian entity which exercises effective control over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and therefore there is no entity which is capable of fulfilling international agreements in respect of that territory as a whole,” the letter said.
The letter also warned the Australian government against “moving in the opposite direction” at a time when Arab states were “normalising relations and abandoning hostile rhetoric against Israel”.
A spokesperson for Senator Wong said “a set of alarming trends reducing the prospects for peace have compelled the Australian government to review and clarify its policy, to emphasise that there must be progress toward a just and enduring two-state solution.”
This article by Rhiannon Down appeared in The Australian newspaper.