Scott Morrison backs moving Australian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
SCOTT Morrison has called the Indonesian President in a bid to head off a backlash - and the dumping of a trade agreement - after the PM suggested Australia’s embassy could move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
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PRIME Minister Scott Morrison has spoken directly with Indonesian President Joko Widodo as Australia considers a proposal to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
The ABC reports Indonesia, which has taken a strong stance in support of Palestinian independence, is considering suspending an imminent free trade deal in response to Australia’s proposal.
Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, and the free trade deal with Australia will be its first.
“I have been in direct contact with President Joko Widodo over the course of last night and through this morning,” Mr Morrison told parliament. “I have been pleased to be able to explain very clearly the nature of the announcements that I have made today.
“And I have been very pleased with the response that I have received from President Joko Widodo.”
Mr Morrison said he looked forward to going to the ASEAN, APEC and G20 summits in coming months and talking about his ideas of doing things differently in the Middle East.
Labor blasted the Prime Minister’s comments about moving the embassy as a “desperate attempt” to win votes in the crucial Wentworth by-election, where 12.5 per cent of voters are Jewish.
But Liberal candidate and Wentworth frontrunner Dave Sharma insists it’s simply a coincidence the federal government announced it could move the Australian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem just days out from a crucial by-election in a seat with thousands of Jewish voters.
“This announcement has to do with the timing of the UN resolution on which we need to take a position and articulate our views,” the former ambassador to Israel told reporters in Sydney.
“I don’t think any voters are single-issue voters in Wentworth.”
DIPLOMATS IN CRISIS TALKS
Palestine’s top diplomat to Australia has warned Scott Morrison he risks making the country an ‘international pariah’ if he shifts the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
As Middle Eastern and Indonesian diplomats prepare to hold emergency talks in Canberra, Ambassador Izzat Salah Abdulhadi blasted the Prime Minister’s shock announcement that he was open to following Donald Trump’s lead and moving the embassy away from Tel Aviv.
In a scathing statement this afternoon, Mr Abdulhadi described Mr Morrison’s claim that the embassy move was a ‘sensible proposal’ as “deeply disturbing”.
He expressed his “deepest concern” about the proposal and strongly urged the Morrison government to “exercise caution and prudence” and “seriously consider the consequences of any such move.”
“The short-term political gain that could be secured by moving the Australian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would surely be outweighed by the detriment both to Australia’s international standing and in its relations with Arab and Muslim-majority countries, and with the international community more broadly,” he said.
“Breaking with decades-long bipartisan support and defying international law and multiple UN resolutions would make Australia an international pariah on this important foreign-policy issue.”
“It would also erode Australia’s claims that it is genuinely committed to the rules-based international order, making any future rebukes of countries that breach or show contempt for it wholly hypocritical.
“If this decision is made, it is difficult to see how Australia could be fair-minded and peace-focused moving forward, especially since the Israeli government considers all of Jerusalem to be its ‘eternal and undivided capital.”
Mr Abdulhadi added: “Our fear is that such a decision at this particular point in time would only embolden the Trump administration in its plan for an alternative roadmap to peace, which has so far involved taking key issues such as the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees ‘off the table.”
A number of Middle Eastern diplomats in Canberra will meet with Indonesian and Palestinian diplomats this afternoon at an emergency meeting to discuss the potential embassy move.
President Trump’s decision to shift the US embassy to Jerusalem sparked violent protests in the Middle East earlier this year which resulted in more than 50 deaths on the Gaza Strip.
‘DANGEROUS GAMES’
Mr Morrison was asked about the move in Question Time, where he declared Australia’s support of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“It is because of our commitment to a two-state solution that we believe that we need to be open to more innovative ways to progress that agenda, and that should involve consideration not only of the recognition of the capital of Israel being in Jerusalem, but also of a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, and for an embassy to potentially be located in West Jerusalem,” Mr Morrison said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the dramatic potential shift in Australia’s foreign policy, writing on social media that he had already spoken to Prime Minister Morrison about it today, while federal Labor shot down the move.
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong blasted it as a “desperate” bid to change longstanding and bipartisan foreign policy to win votes in the Wentworth by-election on Saturday, where 12.5 per cent of voters are Jewish.
“Foreign policy, and Australia’s national interest are far too important to be played with in this fashion,” she said today.
“Instead of playing dangerous and deceitful word games with Australian foreign policy in a desperate attempt to win votes Scott Morrison should try governing in a way that reflects the values of the people of Wentworth by committing to serious action on climate change, and legislating to protect teachers and students from discrimination.
“The people of Wentworth, and all Australians, deserve a leader who puts the national interest ahead of his self-interest, and governs in the best long term interest of the nation, not one prepared to play games with long standing foreign policy positions five days out from a by-election.”
Senator Wong added: “Both the Government and the Opposition have supported the approach of most other nations of maintaining our embassy in Tel Aviv on the grounds that Jerusalem’s status must be determined as part of an overall two state solution that recognises the State of Israel behind secure borders.”
She highlighted that Prime Minister Morrison had previously rejected calls to shift the embassy. Only Guatemala has followed the US lead and actually moved its embassy. A few countries, including Paraguay and Romania, say they are considering the move.
‘UNHELPFUL’ MOVE
Greens leader Richard Di Natale dubbed the potential move “another body blow for the peace process and for the Palestinian people”.
“This is nothing more than a craven attempt by Scott Morrison to employ a play from the Donald Trump foreign policy manual, creating a big stir with provocative statements meant to play to his domestic base,” Senator Di Natale said.
“This decision is obviously driven largely by Scott Morrison’s offensively simplistic belief that Jewish voters in Wentworth share the same views on moving the embassy to Jerusalem and the worth of the Iran Nuclear Agreement.
“Trump’s decisions to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and pull out of the nuclear deal with Iran have been nearly universally condemned – by the United Nations, European and Middle Eastern leaders and religious leaders - yet the Australian Government is once again playing the role of lap dog to Donald Trump and the US. The Greens stand with the vast majority of the international community in unequivocally condemning these ideas.”
Former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, the nation’s top diplomat DFAT Secretary Frances Adamson, and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have also been opposed to the move.
Ms Adamson declared earlier this year that moving the embassy would be “unhelpful” to the peace process between Israel and Palestine.
Senator Wong also said both Labor and the government, like the United Kingdom, France, Germany and most of the international community also supported the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as being the best option for preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
VOTE BID
Prime Minister Morrison has credited Wentworth Liberal candidate Dave Sharma, the former Australian Ambassador to Israel, with suggesting the move.
The Liberal Party must retain Wentworth to hold onto the Coalition’s one-seat majority in the lower house.
The seat was made vacant when Malcolm Turnbull quit politics after Liberal MPs voted to change leader in a spill in August.
Prime Minister Morrison defended his announcement this morning, saying it wasn’t motivated by Wentworth or conversations with the Trump Administration.
He added that the government was passionately committed to Australia’s long-standing support of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine and that a potential move was an “innovative”, “practical” new way of achieving that goal.
“We’re committed to a two state solution, but frankly, it hasn’t been going that well. Not a lot of progress has been made and you don’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results,” Mr Morrison said.
“Australia should be open-minded to this and I am open-minded to this and our government is open-minded to this.”
No final decision has been made but Mr Morrison said he would discuss the proposal with cabinet colleagues and other world leaders in coming months.
“People have been raising this with me from day one. It was put to me in the first couple of days of me becoming Prime Minister and I’m not rushing into anything here,” he said.
“But what I am doing today is recognising what is a real concern in the Jewish community in Australia, whether it is about the Iran nuclear deal which is an item of great concern to that community or it is on this broader question of the two state solution and how we go about achieving it.”
Asked whether he was concerned about outbreaks of violence in the Middle East or retribution against Australia, Mr Morrison said he had been “taking advice” about the proposal.
Earlier, Mr Morrison told The Daily Telegraph Mr Sharma had convinced him that Australia’s Israeli embassy could be moved to West Jerusalem without prejudicing support for a two-state solution.
“I am open to further pursuing (moving the embassy) and doing that together with Cabinet colleagues,” Mr Morrison said. “I am saying I’m open to considering it.
“Dave was the first one to put something to me which showed that we could achieve this”.
INTERNATIONAL FALLOUT
During an interview on ABC radio, Mr Sharma rejected suggestions the Prime Minister’s announcement was a bid to win votes in Wentworth.
He pointed out he first made comments around moving the Israeli embassy in May and said the way the US moved its embassy was not consultative.
Mr Sharma said he would have preferred the US stick with the Iran deal but it made sense for Australia to review its position in light of the withdrawal. Labor and the coalition — along with the United Kingdom, France, Germany — have until now backed the Iran nuclear weapons deal.
Meanwhile, the shifting of Australia’s Israel embassy to Jerusalem would not help peace talks in the region, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
“We support a two-state solution and our view has been that any shift in representation, in the way we saw with the United States, does not move us closer to that peaceful resolution,” she said.
Ms Ardern was earlier this year critical of the US move, describing it as a step backwards for peace.
— with AAP