Oct. 17 () –
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new Labor government of Australia, Penny Wong, has denied this Monday that a decision has been made on the withdrawal of the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in response to published information that pointed in that direction.
“The previous government made the decision to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The government has not made any decision to change that,” Wong said in statements collected by the newspaper ‘The Australian’.
The Australian Conservative government led by Scott Morrison agreed in 2018 to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but the news that a text on a website that included this decision had been withdrawn. The text said:
“In keeping with this traditional position, in December 2018 Australia recognized West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, home to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, and many other Israeli government institutions,” it read.
In addition, it noted that “Australia looks forward to moving its Embassy to West Jerusalem in support of and following a final two-state solution.” Both phrases no longer appear on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Labor Party that now governs Australia included in its electoral program to reverse the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
