Australia has ended its recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong confirmed the nation will once again recognise Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital city.
Israel says Australia’s decision to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, is a “hasty response”.
The nation’s foreign ministry is summoning Australia’s ambassador over the controversial decision.
Israel is pushing Australian lawmakers to take these types of matters seriously in the future.
However, Wong says Australia stands by its previous and long-standing position that Jerusalem is a final status issue and it should be resolved as part of any peace negotiations.
What does this all mean?
Well the status of Jerusalem is one of the main sticking points in the global effort to resolve the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
While Israel claims all of Jerusalem is its capital, Palestinians reject this assertion.
They believe East Jerusalem is the capital of their future, independent state.
Israel controls the entirety of the city and any peace deal would need to resolve this first.
The international community officially regards East Jerusalem as occupied territory and there isn’t one country that has their embassy in the region, instead opting for Tel Aviv.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison formally recognised West Jerusalem in December 2018, despite holding off on any relocation of Australia’s embassy from Tel Aviv.
Wong says this recognition was politically motivated to win the federal seat of Wentworth, which has a large number of Jewish residents.
Australia’s decision to recognise West Jerusalem was condemned by much of the international community as world leaders continue the push for peace in the region.
