Turnbull slams Morrison for ‘Jewish vote pitch’

Jewish leaders defend the PM after comments from Turnbull over the Israel embassy pitch.

Malcolm Turnbull with Scott Morrison before the Turnbull coup.

Jewish leaders have defended Scott Morrison for showing “genuine principle” after the prime minister came under attack from Malcolm Turnbull for flagging to move Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem during last year’s Wentworth by-election to flag moving.

It was revealed today Mr Turnbull, who was accused of failing to help then-candidate Dave Sharma win his former seat in the October 20, 2018, by-­election, had said on Sunday the embassy pitch was “really dumb” and showed a “complete misunderstanding” of Jewish voters.

But the Executive Director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council Colin Rubenstein told The Australian that Mr Morrison’s handling of the issue was well received by large sections of the community.

“Of course Morrison’s initiative, while obviously open to criticism, was widely welcomed and demonstrated genuine principle and self assurance,” Dr Rubenstein said.

“The further welcome opening of a defence and trade office in Jerusalem, and the determination not to be cowed by unhelpful conventional wisdom on these matters, marks Morrison as a courageous, pragmatic leader determined to make a positive impact on promoting conflict resolution and mutual coexistence.”

According to The Australian Jewish News, Mr Turnbull told the Friends of Wolper Jewish Hospital on Sunday that Mr Sharma, who subsequently won the seat at the May 18 general election, was punished at the by-election over the embassy issue.

“Whatever your views on the merits of that, I thought the timing was just calculated to win support … It showed a patronising insensitivity to the Jewish community,” Mr Turnbull said. “We all do dumb things in our lives — so do governments and politicians.

“Personally, I think the government’s position on that, to leave the embassy where it was and not change the position, was the right one.”

Independent Kerryn Phelps won Wentworth after Mr Turnbull’s retirement from parliament by 1860 votes, while Mr Sharma won the seat back for the Liberal Party on May 18 with a margin of 2346 votes. The embassy issue divided voters in Wentworth’s Jewish community during the by-election campaign.

Dr Phelps was cheered at a Jewish community voters’ forum ahead of the poll when she blasted the embassy proposal as “politically motivated” and occurring “without a comprehensive analysis of the defence, trade and security implications”.

Key bureaucrats and foreign policy analysts subsequently advised the government to maintain the status quo, amid fears that shifting the embassy would scuttle the Australia-Indonesia free-trade agreement, and undermine security at Australian missions in Muslim countries.

After a review of the issue, the Prime Minister announced what he said was a “balanced” and “measured” position — Australia would recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but would not immediately move its embassy from Tel Aviv. Some Liberals believe Mr Turnbull’s refusal to publicly advocate for Mr Sharma damaged the party’s chances at the by-election.

Mr Turnbull, however, defended his absence from that campaign, saying it was not “remotely in Dave’s interests for me to be around …I gave Dave my support, everyone knew I endorsed him.

“In fact, I think it’s publicly known that the powers that be at the Liberal Party tried to stop him becoming preselected and Lucy and I had enough residual influence to ensure he was preselected,” he said.

Mr Turnbull again blasted right-wing “terrorists” in the Liberal Party who conspired to end his leadership, but said he believed Mr Morrison had “done pretty good” as Prime Minister so far.