Malcolm Turnbull slams Scott Morrison’s Israel embassy plan

SCOTT Morrison has all but dismissed Malcolm Turnbull’s warning that moving Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem could prompt a “very negative reaction” from Indonesia.

SCOTT Morrison has all but dismissed Malcolm Turnbull’s warning that moving Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem could prompt a “very negative reaction” from Indonesia.

Speaking after a meeting in Bali with Indonesia President Joko Widodo as part of a global conference on protecting the world’s oceans, Mr Turnbull said Australia shouldn’t toy with the idea of moving the embassy, given the reaction it would stir from its Muslim majority northern neighbour.

Malcolm Turnbull in Bali for the Oceans Conference, pictured with Indonesian president Joko Widodo. Picture: Supplied

“The president expressed to me, as he has done to Prime Minister Morrison, the very serious concern held in Indonesia about the prospect of the Australian embassy in Israel being moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” Mr Turnbull said, according to AAP.

Prime Minister Morrison said this morning Australia would “make our own decisions on our foreign policy based on our interests”.

“We will listen to others but Australia will always make decisions about our foreign policy on our terms and in our interests,” he said.

Mr Morrison stressed a decision had not yet been made on whether to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, adding: “We will follow a proper process before making any decision on this matter.”

Asked whether he thought Mr Turnbull’s comments undermined him, Mr Morrison said simply: “No.”

Prime Minister Morrison floated the idea of shifting the embassy in the dying days of the Wentworth by-election campaign, where more than 12 per cent of voters are Jewish.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison floated the idea of shifting the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following in the footsteps of the US. Picture: AAP

Mr Turnbull said Australia must first look at how its closest neighbours would react to such a dramatic foreign policy change.

“There is no question, were that move to occur, it would be met with a very negative reaction in Indonesia. This is after all the largest Muslim-majority country in the world,” he said.

“We have to be very clear-eyed about that, and we have to take into account Australia’s national interests, and our interests in the region, when we consider a decision like this.”

He said the Indonesian President had expressed “serious concern” over the plan.