PM’s ‘desperate’ politics on Jerusalem embassy

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is being accused of playing ‘‘desperate’’ politics with highly sensitive foreign policy after he announced the government would consider recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a contentious move that would bring Australia into line with the Trump administration and antagonise the Muslim world.

The apparent openness to shifting Australia’s embassy from Tel Aviv has been unveiled just days ahead of the high-stakes byelection in Wentworth, an electorate with a large Jewish population. The Liberal candidate Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, has been a vocal advocate for reconsidering Australia’s decades-long position.

The prime minister has also announced the government would review Australia’s support for the Iran nuclear deal to see whether it was still ‘‘fit for purpose’’ in preventing the country from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The Palestinian representative in Australia, Izzat Abdulhadi, and Middle East experts rebuked Morrison’s new position as a domestic political ploy that could damage the peace process and Australia’s standing with Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Asia.

Abdulhadi said the government’s announcement was ‘‘very regrettable’’ and accused Morrison of abandoning long-held foreign policy to help Sharma get elected.

‘‘This is not pragmatism. It is opportunism, unfortunately,’’ he told Fairfax Media. ‘‘This will affect the relationship between Australia and the Arab world and the Muslim world.’’

He said the move ‘‘will not benefit the peace process at all’’ and would isolate Australia from Western allies that have rejected Trump’s contentious position.

Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Morrison was ‘‘so desperate to hang on to his job’’ that he was willing to to put at risk bipartisan foreign policy and Australia’s national interest. – Fairfax