Australia set to recognise Palestine at UN in September

Australia will recognise the state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September after Anthony Albanese said he had secured guarantees from the Palestinian Authority about a path towards peace and the isolation of terrorist group Hamas.

The announcement sparked accusations that the Government had abandoned a bipartisan position of how to work towards a two-state solution in favour of a symbolic move that would change nothing on the ground in Gaza.

Overnight on Monday, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu told foreign reporters that “most of the Jewish public” was against a Palestinian state because it wouldn’t bring peace, describing the international push as “disappointing” and “shameful”.

“I think we’re actually applying force judiciously, and they know it,” he said.

“They know what they would do if right next to Melbourne or right next to Sydney you had this horrific attack.

“I think they would do it, at least what we’re doing — probably, maybe not as efficiently and as precisely as we’re doing it.”

“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.

“It’s not going change our position.”

The Prime Minister revealed he had a blunt conversation with Mr Netanyahu days before his Cabinet made the formal decision on Monday morning to recognise Palestine.

Australia’s move follows that of France, Canada and the United Kingdom over the past three weeks. A further 147 of the 193 UN member states already recognise Palestine.

Mr Albanese insisted it added to momentum towards a two-state solution that would ensure the security of both Israel and Palestine.

“The risk of trying is nothing compared to the danger of letting this moment pass us by. The toll of the status quo is growing by the day, and it can be measured in innocent lives,” he said.

“The world cannot wait for success to be guaranteed. That only means waiting for a day that will never come. There is a moment of opportunity here, and Australia will work with the international community to seize it.”

He again called for Hamas to release the hostages it took on October 7, 2023, and for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Australia will recognise Palestine after commitments from Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to Israel’s right to exist in peace and security, to demilitarise, to hold general elections as soon as possible, and to end payments to families of prisoners and martyrs, among other governance reforms.

A subsequent call from Arab states for Hamas to disarm and relinquish power was also a tipping point.

Australia’s practical steps towards recognition beyond the UN declaration – such as opening embassies and recognising borders, a capital and sea rights – would be taken slowly and in concert with other countries on the proviso these commitments are kept.

Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon accused Australia of undermining his country’s security, derailing hostage negotiations and handing a victory to people who opposed the co-existence of Israelis and Palestinians.

“Let us be clear: this decision will not change the reality on the ground. Peace is not achieved through declarations, it is achieved when those who have chosen terror abandon it and when violence and incitement end,” he said.

“By recognising a Palestinian state now, Australia elevates the position of Hamas … while weakening the cause of those working to end violence and achieve genuine, lasting peace.”

Mr Albanese cast the decision in the mould of Australia being the first UN member in 1947 to support the creation of the state of Israel.

He said there was an opportunity now to deliver self-determination to Palestinians in a way that isolated Hamas and drove it out of the region.

Over the past fortnight, the Prime Minister has spoken with the leaders of France, the UK, Japan and New Zealand about their countries’ positions.

He also spoke with Mr Abbas and Mr Netanyahu last week.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about Australia’s imminent announcement on Monday morning.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and shadow foreign minister Michaelia Cash said the Government’s shift abandoned a decades-long bipartisan position and put Australia at odds with the US.

“Until today it has been a bipartisan position that the question of recognising Palestinian statehood should come at the end of the peace negotiation process, not at the start or during it,” they said in a joint statement.

“Despite his words today, the reality is Anthony Albanese has committed Australia to recognising Palestine while hostages remain in tunnels under Gaza and with Hamas still in control of the population of Gaza. Nothing he has said today changes that fact.”

But Cabinet minister Anne Aly said Australia’s long-standing position had been to work towards a two-state solution, and recognition would advance that.

It might not offer immediate relief from the conflict, but it signalled that the world was “pushing Israel for some kind of circuit breaker” and offered a two-state solution that didn’t include Hamas, she added.

Dr Aly said while the nearly 100,000 people marching across Sydney Harbour Bridge a week ago was the largest protest calling for an end to the war in Gaza, the community sentiment had been visible for “a very long time”.

Former minister Ed Husic described recognition as “just and right” and called for the international community to take concrete steps to stop the starvation and killing in Gaza.

A leading Jewish community group said it was not surprised by the announcement, but that didn’t lessen its disappointment.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said it didn’t matter that Australia had “taken shelter” with other western democracies because if this led to further bloodshed, “those same western governments will bear a heavy burden of responsibility”.

“Acting out of malice or caprice or frustration with the war won’t bring the parties any closer to peace, and it won’t create a factual, long-standing and binding two-state solution,” ECAJ chief executive Alex Ryvchin said.

However, international law expert Don Rothwell said the countries that historically hadn’t recognised Palestine were important players internationally and their shift would make a difference.

“This core group of countries, if they begin to move in lockstep – probably without the United States, I suspect – I think, will really be a major tipping point in terms of the push for the really universal recognition of Palestine as a state,” the ANU professor said.

Overnight on Monday, Mr Netanyahu told foreign reporters that “most of the Jewish public” was against a Palestinian state because it wouldn’t bring peace.

“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,” he said.

“It’s not going change our position.”