Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

3min read
18 October 2022 | 9:30 am CAT

The new Australian government says it will no longer recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which reverses a decision taken by the government of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2018.

Photo credit: Time Out

“Today the Government has reaffirmed Australia’s previous and longstanding position that Jerusalem is a final status issue that should be resolved as part of any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people,” says Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

In a statement, Wong says even though Australia’s embassy would remain in Tel Aviv, Canberra was committed to a two-state solution “in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist, in peace and security, within internationally recognised borders”.

“We will not support an approach that undermines this prospect,” she added.

Jerusalem’s status has been one of the biggest rival points in a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel regards the entire city, including the eastern sector it annexed after the 1967 Middle East war, as its capital. However, Palestinian officials, with international backing, want occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.

In 2018, Morrison announced his conservative government has recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

This came after the United States backtracked on decades of its policy by recognising the city and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

The decision by Australia at the time was criticised by pro-Palestinian groups and the Labor party, which was then an opposition, promised to reverse the move if elected.