This past Tuesday, the new more left-wing government of Australia issued a new announcement stating that it was going to be going back on the previous decision iterated by the more conservative administration to officially label the capital city of Israel as Jerusalem.
The Labor Party government of Australia stated that it would recognize Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel and demanded that Israel finally determine the city’s status via a series of peace talks with the Palestinians. The capital of Israel is Jerusalem, not just the relatively small western section of the city itself.
“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,” expressed Penny Wong, the Foreign Minister of Australia, via a release. “This reverses the Morrison Government’s recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
Wong stated that Australia would not change course in its overall support of Israel even though the country was essentially doing just that with its most recent announcement of its reversal.
“I regret that Mr Morrison’s decision to play politics resulted in Australia’s shifting position, and the distress these shifts have caused to many people in the Australian community who care deeply about this issue,” stated Wong.
Yair Lapid, the Prime Minister of Israel, issued a response to the news via a release which questions the very core of Australia’s government.
“In light of the way this decision was made in Australia, as a hasty response to an incorrect report in the media, we can only hope that the Australian government manages other matters more seriously and professionally,” stated Lapid. “Jerusalem is the eternal and united capital of Israel and nothing will ever change that.”
Prime Minister Lapid:
"Jerusalem is the eternal and united capital of Israel and nothing will ever change that."— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 18, 2022
Just a scant few hours prior to the announcement from Australia which expressed that they would no longer be recognizing Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel, one spokesperson for Wong stated that there had been “no decision to change that has been made by the government.”
Just a few hours later, however, Wong was slamming accusations against former Prime Minister Scott Morrison of attempting to manipulate the Jewish vote throughout Australia by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“You know what this was? This was a cynical play, unsuccessful, to win the seat of Wentworth and a by-election,” she exlcaimed without any evidence.
It was reported by the Jerusalem Post that Australian Ambassador Paul Griffiths has been summoned by Israel’s Foreign Ministry in order to be officially reprimanded concerning the issue.
“The timing of this morning’s cabinet decision was clearly media driven,” stated the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. “The status of Jerusalem is an important foreign policy issue and it is demeaning for Australia to have its international position changed in such a shoddy manner…[It is] a gratuitous insult to a key economic and strategic ally, with no countervailing benefit for Australians. This is no way to treat an ally whose intelligence-sharing with Australia has prevented at least one terrorist attack against Australians that we know of.”