Lazar Berman is the diplomatic reporter for The Times of Israel
The Foreign Ministry expressed Israel’s “deep disappointment” to the Australian envoy over Canberra’s resolution to cancel its popularity of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and said the government is contemplating additional measures in response.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong made the announcement Tuesday in reaction to a media report on the issue, saying the government had to re-identify Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital. He said Jerusalem’s prestige deserves to be through peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. , not unilateral decisions.
On Tuesday afternoon in Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry political director Aliza Bin Noun told Australian Ambassador Paul Griffiths that the move is “a depressing resolution that ignores the deep and eternal bond between Israel and its historic capital, and goes against the positive ties between Israel and Australia. “. “
He added that this encourages extremist elements in the West Bank to continue fueling violence and the dangers of destabilizing the region. It also goes against the deepening of ties between Israel and Arab countries in the Abraham Accords, he said.
The most sensible Israeli diplomat placed special emphasis on the timing of the Australian announcement. This came as Jews in Israel and around the world concluded Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah celebrations, amid heightened tensions with the Palestinians, and as an agreement on shipping. the border with Lebanon is about to be reached.
According to others familiar with the meeting, Australians were under pressure in response to Canberra’s position on Jerusalem being the continuation of a long-term policy and that the popularity of 2018 was a discrepancy that had been corrected.
The assembly between Bin Noun and Griffiths lasted half an hour.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid also criticized Australia’s announcement on Tuesday. “Because of the way the resolution was made in Australia, in hasty reaction to media reports, we can only hope that the Australian government handles other issues in a more serious and professional manner. Lapid said in a statement.
“Jerusalem is the eternal capital of united Israel and nothing will ever be that,” he added.
At a factional assembly of his Yesh Atid party later Tuesday, Lapid said “what happened in Australia was a replacement for leadership. “He added that, as a rule, Israel does not describe the capitals of other nations, so other countries do not. for Israel
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said he was sorry to hear Australia’s decision.
“A united Jerusalem has been and will remain the capital of Israel forever. Statements of this kind serve no purpose and contribute nothing,” he said in a statement.
However, the Palestinian Authority applauded Australia’s decision.
“We welcome Australia’s resolution related to Jerusalem and its call for a two-state solution in accordance with foreign legitimacy,” Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh said on Twitter.
Sheikh welcomed “Australia’s statement that the long-term sovereignty over Jerusalem is based on the permanent solution of foreign legitimacy. “
Arsen Ostrovsky, executive director of the Israel-based International Legal Forum of Australia, is a “shameful and cowardly decision. . . which, tellingly, has already been applauded by the Hamas terror group. “
The Australian Zionist Federation called the move “deeply disappointing and counterproductive to achieving the government’s purpose of a two-state solution. “Any proposal for the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation “ensures that West Jerusalem remains Israel’s capital,” its leader Jeremy Leibler said. “Acknowledging this in no way predetermines the final outcome of the negotiations. “
The Walla news site reported that Israel was shocked by the decision, which came just months after the head of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs’ Middle East department visited Israel and made it clear to colleagues that no change in Australia’s West Jerusalem policy was expected.
However, the Australian Labor Party, which came into force in May 2022 with Anthony Albanese as minister, had made a crusade to oppose the resolution of the conservative government headed by Scott Morrison in 2018 to recognize the western part of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. .
On Tuesday, Wong said Australia remained committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation, and “will not help with a technique that would undermine that prospect. “He added: “The Australian embassy has been and remains in Tel Aviv. . “
The foreign minister had denied last Tuesday that there had been a change in policy and said through a spokesman that “the previous government took the resolution to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel” and that “no resolution for change was made by the government. “. “
But hours later, Wong, a member of the ruling Labor Party, said the resolution taken four years ago by a Conservative government “has caused clashes and misery in part of the Australian community, and now the government is persecuting it. “
Wong accused Morrison’s government of being motivated through an election through a beachfront suburb of Sydney with a giant Jewish community. ” she said.
Wong insisted that the existing resolution signified any hostility toward Israel.
“Australia will be an unwavering friend of Israel. We were among the first countries to officially recognize Israel,” he said. “We will not hesitate to help Israel and the Jewish community of Australia. We are also steadfast in our aid to the Palestinians. “people, adding humanitarian assistance.
Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War and then annexed it in a never-identified move through the foreign network. For decades, the foreign network has argued that the city’s prestige should be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians. Critics say singling out Jerusalem as anyone’s capital inflames tensions and prejudges the latest results of the most prestigious peace talks.
The Canberra resolution came amid confusion after Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported on Monday that Australia’s Foreign Ministry had gotten rid of a text surrounding West Jerusalem’s popularity from its website.
The deleted text described “West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel” and noted that Australia “looks forward to moving its embassy to West Jerusalem when possible, during and after the last prestige of a two-state solution. “
According to The Guardian, the site was updated after the British newspaper approached the Foreign Office regarding the government’s position on Jerusalem’s prestige.
A spokesman for Morrison said a resolution to cancel the popularity would be “disappointing,” ABC News reported in Australia.
Morrison’s resolution in 2018 gained a combined reception in Israel at the time, with many politicians accusing the resolution that it was not enough, of not recognizing the entire city as the capital of the Jewish state and of retaining Australia’s embassy in Tel Aviv. The previous year, the United States states, under then-President Donald Trump, identified Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and then moved the U. S. embassy there.
Carrie Keller-Lynn and contributed to this report.
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