Anthony Albanese has sharpened his language in declaring he is ready to seize the “opportunity” and fulfil a lifelong political aspiration to recognise Palestine as a state.
While not publicly revealing timelines for his government claiming that “opportunity”, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have set up a historic clash with US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at August’s 80th session of the UN General Assembly.
Since winning a landslide victory on May 3, which swelled the power and influence of his Left faction, Albanese and factional ally Penny Wong have both privately and publicly advanced their government’s pursuit of Palestinian statehood.
Macron, whose government co-chairs with Saudi Arabia a UN-backed summit on a two-state solution that has set out a phased end to the Gaza war and proposed an independent, demilitarised Palestinian state, was the first to move last Friday. Starmer, under pressure from his cabinet, moved on Wednesday.
That was followed by a joint statement on pathways for a two-state solution from Wong and foreign ministers from Canada, New Zealand, France, Spain, Norway, San Marino, Iceland, Andorra, Malta, Luxembourg, Finland, Portugal, Ireland and Slovenia.
Albanese, who was in contact with Starmer overnight on Tuesday and will speak with him before the end of the week, is expected to travel to New York in September for his first UNGA appearance. There are hopes that trip could include a stop at the White House to see Trump.
After Starmer invited him to visit Britain when the pair met at the G7 summit in Canada in June, the Prime Minister is likely to include a London stop.
He is also expected to speak with other world leaders in coming weeks as an alliance of Western nations and Arab countries push ahead with plans to support a new Palestine state.
Albanese, who met Jewish leaders in Canberra on Wednesday, said “sometimes out of a crisis comes a moment of opportunity to actually advance forward in a real way, advance forward for Israelis and Palestinians”.
“I’ve said for a long time, my entire political life, I support two states: the right of Israel to exist within secure borders and the right of Palestinians to have their legitimate aspirations for their own state realised. That’s my objective – not making a statement, not winning a political point, but achieving that,” he said.
Aside from Trump’s resistance to the Palestinian statehood push, other serious challenges remain.
These include Hamas laying down weapons and releasing hostages, the credibility of a weakened Palestinian Authority, demilitarising a Palestinian state, the geographical claims of Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank and Jerusalem, and how Arab and Muslim countries would support a new state.
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