Australia recognises West Jerusalem as Israel's capital

Australia has recognised West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The decision, announced by prime minister Scott Morrison, follows a similar move by the US last year when President Donald Trump reversed decades of American foreign policy and switched the country’s embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Mr Morrison said Australia would not move its own embassy until a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians was achieved.

And he added that his country also recognised the aspirations of the Palestinians for a state with a capital in East Jerusalem.

Mr Morrison’s announcement on Saturday comes after a two month consultation with politicians in Australia and allies abroad.

He said: “Australia now recognises West Jerusalem, being the seat of the Knesset and many of the institutions of government, is the capital of Israel.

“We look forward to moving our embassy ... after final status determination.”

He said that Australia would, in the interim, set up a defence and trade office in West Jerusalem.

The shift follows weeks of controversy following the announcement of the policy review in October.

Palestinian leaders spent the past few days lobbying Arab and other Muslim states to drop Australian exports and withdraw their ambassadors from Canberra in the event of an embassy move to Jerusalem. It remains to be seen if any will do so.

Commentators in Australia pointed out how the switch was first floated by Mr Morrison in the week leading up to a by-election in the town of Wentworth – an electorate where 12.5 per cent of the population is Jewish.

But, as part of the announcement, Mr Morrison denied the move had anything to do with domestic politics – and accused the United Nations of antisemitism.

He said: “We regard the biased and unfair targeting of Israel in the UN general assembly in particular, as deeply unhelpful to efforts to build peace and stability. The UN general assembly is now the place where Israel is bullied and where antisemitism is cloaked in the language of human rights.”

Two other countries, Guatemala and Paraguay, have previously announced they would recognise West Jerusalem, but Paraguay later reversed the decision after a change of government.

The status of Jerusalem is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel regards the city as its “undivided” capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.