Israel urges Dutton to recognise West Jerusalem as nation’s capital

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is facing calls from the Netanyahu government and local Jewish groups to again recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital if the Coalition wins the federal election.

The Morrison government recognised West Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in 2018, before the Albanese government reversed the move three years later.

Sharren Haskel, the deputy Israeli foreign minister, pictured in Tel Aviv in 2023.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told this masthead: “I would expect the declaration of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.”

Declaring that West Jerusalem’s status as Israel’s capital was an “obvious and undisputed fact”, Haskel said such a move would help repair the fractured relationship between the two countries, which has become increasingly acrimonious since Labor came to power.

The push has been rejected by Palestinian advocates, who said it was “shocking” to think Australia would reward Israel after the way it conducted the war in Gaza.

The Israeli government was angered when the Albanese government announced it would no longer recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in October 2022 in a messy process that began with a quiet change to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.

Peter Dutton has been urged to recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Colin Rubenstein, executive director for the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, said: “The Coalition should absolutely undertake to reverse this appalling decision, and acknowledge that Israel has the right of every other country to determine its own capital, should it be elected to government.”

He continued: “The decision of the Albanese government to reverse this recognition just months after it was elected was an ominous portent of the way this government would progressively turn its back on the Jewish state, especially at its time of greatest need.”

Asked at a press conference in Canberra last month whether a Coalition government would again recognise West Jerusalem, Dutton said: “Well, we have no proposals to make any changes to any settings that we’ve got at the moment.”

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman David Coleman told this masthead in January the Coalition would have more to say about Jerusalem at a later date.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin urged a return to the Morrison-era policy.

“The reversal of the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel emboldened the ‘river to the sea’ pro-Palestinian fanatics and brought absolutely no benefits to Australia, showing the folly of seeking to satisfy extremists,” Ryvchin said.

“We urge both major parties to commit to abandoning the fiction that Israel’s capital is in Tel Aviv and making recognition of Jerusalem a matter of consensus rather than partisanship.”

The Morrison government was accused of undermining hopes of a two-state solution and using foreign policy to curry favour with Jewish voters by recognising West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ahead of a 2018 byelection in the Sydney seat of Wentworth.

Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni described the calls as “deeply troubling”. “Israel stands accused of genocide in Gaza, and its prime minister was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the highest court on earth. The violence required to think Israel could be rewarded with the recognition of West Jerusalem as its capital is shocking.”

Most countries maintain their Israeli embassies in Tel Aviv and do not officially recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, even though it is the site of the Israeli parliament. Plans for a two-state solution typically envisage an Israeli capital in West Jerusalem and a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.

US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and moved the US embassy to the ancient city in 2018.

Michael Chaitow, executive director of the progressive New Israel Fund Australia, said: “Until the previous government, there had been longstanding bipartisan consensus that Jerusalem would remain as a final status issue.

“Recognising West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel without recognising East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine would do nothing for the cause of peace.”

When announcing the government’s decision in 2022, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Morrison government had engaged in “a cynical, unsuccessful, play to win the seat of Wentworth and a byelection”.

“Today, the government has reaffirmed Australia’s previous and long-standing position that Jerusalem is a final status issue, a final status issue that should be resolved as part of any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people,” she said.

Wong later said the timing of the decision, on the holy Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, was “deeply regrettable”.

“I regret that the shift away from Australia’s longstanding position, and the shift back this week, have been distressing for communities that have a deep-rooted and keenly felt stake in the cessation of conflict, particularly the Australian Jewish community,” she said at the time.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison has denied that domestic politics played a role in the decision.

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