Summary: After Australia’s Conservative Party lost power this year, the new Labor government has moved to undo former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s policy regarding the recognition of West Jerusalem. Australia has reverted back to its pre-2018 status in not recognizing West Jerusalem as Israel, which that original decision had undone a status quo that had lasted for decades. The new labor government has supported the continuation of talks for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. Foreign Minister Penny Wong believes that the recognition of West Jerusalem of part of Israel completely undermines the ongoing peace talks between Israel and Palestine’s unrecognized territorial holdings.
Analysis: There tends to be a weird global phenomenon where more conservative-leaning parties have moved to recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, while more liberal leaning governments have either kept the status quo or undone such decisions made by their conservative predecessors, with the Biden Administration in the United States being a notable exception to this. Australia is not as strategically important to Israel as the United States and Europe in general is, so this decision does not likely come to any harm of the overall international recognition of Israel and does not effect the region whatsoever. Although, in a historical sense, this is a major shakeup. Australia was the first country to vote for creation of Israel in the United Nations partition resolution in 1947 and had presided over helping admit it to the U.N. Their history essentially goes as far back as it does with the United States, so this move to undo such a monumental decision to recognize West Jerusalem as Israeli will likely significantly hinder their relationship with each other moving forward.
Connection to Class: Australia’s withdrawal of recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has brought up the issue of the two state solution. Palestine and Israel have very similar figures in who recognizes them (138 for Palestine and 163 for Israel), however the lack of recognition from the United States, France, and the U.K., members of the security council, denies Palestine the sovereignty needed to be recognized as an official state. Furthermore, it lacks full control over its foreign affairs due to its two competing governments and status within Israel also removes its qualifications. Therefore, Palestine is an unrecognized state.