Canberra reversed a decision taken by the previous Conservative government: Australia announced on Tuesday that it would no longer recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the issue of Jerusalem's status should be resolved through peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people and not through unilateral decisions.

"We will not support an approach that undermines that prospect," she said, adding that "the Australian Embassy has always been, and remains, in Tel Aviv."

The previous Conservative government of Scott Morrison came under heavy criticism when, in 2018, it announced that it was recognizing West Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

He made the announcement on the heels of a similar decision by US President Donald Trump.

Cynical game, politics and economic agreement

It had also caused consternation in neighboring Indonesia (the country with the most Muslims in the world) temporarily derailing a free trade agreement.

“I know this has caused strife and disarray within part of the Australian community, and today the government is looking to resolve this,” Penny Wong said on Tuesday.

She accused her predecessor's government of taking the decision at the time to try to win a crucial by-election in a Sydney suburb with a large Jewish community: “You know what it was?

It was a cynical, unsuccessful game to win Wentworth's seat and a by-election.

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Israel slammed Australia's decision

The centre-left Labor Party has been in power since May and Penn Wong was keen to stress that the move is not a sign of hostility towards Israel: "Australia will always be an unswerving friend to Israel.

We were among the first countries to officially recognize Israel.

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Israel on Tuesday castigated Australia's decision and urgently summoned the Australian ambassador for an explanation, while the Palestinian Authority welcomed it.

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid called the Australian position a “hasty response to erroneous press information”, without specifying what “erroneous” information he was referring to.

“We welcome Australia's decision on Jerusalem and its call for a two-state solution (…) and its guarantee that the future sovereignty of Jerusalem depends on a permanent solution based on international legitimacy,” said de con side wrote on Twitter the Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh.

For the UN, the status of Jerusalem must be the subject of an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians and, in the meantime, the countries must not establish their diplomatic representation there with Israel.

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