ANKARA
Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Australian envoy to Tel Aviv on Tuesday over Canberra’s resolution to cancel Jerusalem’s popularity as Israel’s capital, to Israeli media.
The Israeli army’s official radio station and i24 news showed that Australian envoy Paul Griffiths had been summoned to give explanations for the decision.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement: “Jerusalem will be the eternal capital of Israel. “
Saying the resolution was taken across Australia in a hasty reaction to media reports, he added: “We can only hope the Australian government handles the other issues more seriously and professionally. “
Lapid said the Australian resolution “will do nothing. “
Australia has reversed its earlier resolution to recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the country’s most sensible diplomat said on Tuesday.
“Australia is committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a long-term Palestinian state coexist, in peace and security, within identified borders around the world,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.
“Today, the government reaffirmed Australia’s past and longstanding position that Jerusalem is a critical prestige factor that must be resolved as a component of any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people,” Wong said.
In 2018, the government of then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it would recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but would not move its embassy from Tel Aviv until a peace deal was reached.
Morrison also included it in Australia’s policy on Israel, which has now been ruled out by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who came to force in May.
In 2018, Wong also opposed Morrison’s resolution, saying Labour “does not have a one-sided popularity of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and that the government would oppose that resolution,” The Guardian newspaper reported on Monday.
In 2017, then-US President Donald Trump officially declared Jerusalem Israel’s capital, reversing decades of American policy of remaining impartial over the holy city.
The U. S. resolution sparked protests in the Palestinian territories and several countries amid condemnation from Arab and Muslim countries.
Washington’s European allies also criticized the move, warning that the U. S. move would worsen between Palestinians and Israelis and cause unrest in the region.
Israel occupied the West Bank, adding East Jerusalem, the 1967 Middle East War. He annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it as Israel’s “eternal” capital, a move never identified by the foreign community.
International considers the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be “occupied territories” and considers any activity to build Jewish settlements in the territory illegal.
Palestinians accuse Israel of waging a competitive crusade to “Judaize” the historic city by erasing its Arab and Islamic identity and expelling its Palestinian inhabitants.
*Islamuddin Sajid and Zehra Nur Dur contributed to this report