Australia’s left-wing Labor government confirmed Monday it will recognise a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly next month, dismissing Israel’s call that such a move “rewards terrorism.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had received firm commitments from the Palestinian Authority (PA) including to demilitarise, hold general elections and continue to recognise Israel’s right to exist, the BBC reports.
“A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” he said.
Israel has long maintained recognising a Palestinian state “rewards terrorism” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised international calls to recognise Palestinian statehood just as Canberra announced its move, saying it would “not bring peace, it will bring war.”
Anti-Israel protesters march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in front of a portrait of Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei during a “March for Humanity Save Gaza” protest. (Ye Myo Khant/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole, just like that, fall right into it and buy this canard is disappointing, and I think it’s actually shameful,” Netanyahu said.
A senior Hamas official said earlier this month the growing number of western states that say they will recognize a Palestinian state in September is proof of the effectiveness of terror, as Breitbart News reported.
Ghazi Hamad spoke to Al Jazeera (via MEMRI) to make the claim:
Israel launched its current offensive in thee disputed zone in response to the Hamas-led terrorist attack on 7 October, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were brutally murdered and 251 others were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists.
The move comes after Albanese said he had conversations with counterparts in the UK, France, New Zealand, and Japan over the past fortnight.
“There is a moment of opportunity here, and Australia will work with the international community to seize it,” he told the media.
A protester shouts slogans and makes a hand signal during the anti-Israel rally that crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.(Ye Myo Khant/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
AFP reports Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said the decision was symbolic, rather than “genuine progress towards peace.”
“Let us be clear: this decision will not change the reality on the ground,” Maimon said in a statement on social media.
“Australia elevates the position of Hamas, a group it acknowledges as a terrorist organisation, while weakening the cause of those working to end violence and achieve genuine, lasting peace.”
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