Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed on Tuesday that Canberra has refused to acknowledge West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“Jerusalem is a final status issue that must be resolved as part of any peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian people,” Wong mentioned in a press release.
Wong held a media briefing shortly after issuing the assertion, saying Australia was dedicated to a two-state resolution that would come with “Israel and the future Palestinian state co-operating in peace and security, and within internationally recognized borders.” -exists.”
She mentioned Australia wouldn’t help an method that downplayed the likelihood, including: “The Embassy of Australia has always been, and remains, in Tel Aviv.”
Wong additionally mentioned that Canberra will at all times be “a steadfast friend of Israel”, persevering with to say that they have been “the first country to formally recognize Israel.”
Secretary of State Penny Wong introduced the choice to reverse the Morrison authorities’s recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
She says it was a “whimsical play” by the previous prime minister through the 2018 Wentworth by-election @ABC News
#auspol pic.twitter.com/Kh4iW4mo2o— Matthew Doran (@MattDoran91) 18 October 2022
“We will not back down in our support of the Jewish community in Israel and Australia. We are equally steadfast in supporting the Palestinian people, including humanitarian aid.”
Australia acknowledged West Jerusalem because the capital of Israel in 2018
In 2018, the Conservative coalition authorities led by [former Prime Minister] Scott Morrison formally acknowledged West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing a long time of coverage.
Australia turned the third nation after the US and Guatemala to acknowledge Jerusalem because the capital of Israel.
But not like the others, Australia acknowledged solely the western a part of the disputed metropolis.
Former US President Donald Trump made no distinction between town’s east and west when he introduced plans in 2017 to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Scott Morrison mentioned on the time that the Australian embassy would stay in Tel Aviv, though plans may change.
Palestinians declare East Jerusalem because the capital of any future state, whereas Israel sees the complete metropolis as its capital. East Jerusalem is dwelling to town’s most spiritual websites.
Foreign Affairs Department drops language associated to West Jerusalem
The announcement got here simply hours after Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade dropped two strains on its web site relating to the Morrison authorities’s recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The division dropped the road that Australia seemed ahead to relocating its embassy to West Jerusalem because the battle between Israel and Palestine was resolved.
After practically a decade of Conservative rule, Labor’s Anthony Albanese turned prime minister in May 2022.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
