AUSTRALIAN PM MULLS MOVING ISRAEL EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM
CANBERRA— Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison raised on Wednesday the possibility of relocating Canberra’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Morrison said the idea was suggested to him by a former ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, a candidate for the ruling Liberal Party in a crucial by-election on Saturday.
Political stakes
At stake is the government’s single-seat majority in the House of Representatives and Morrison’s ability to retain power without doing deals with independent lawmakers.
Australia’s opposition center-left Labor Party said the announcement was a desperate attempt to win the by-election in the Wentworth electorate.
“The people of Wentworth, and all Australians, deserve a leader who puts the national interest ahead of his self-interest, and governs in the best long-term interest of the nation,” Labor lawmaker Penny Wong said.
Labor reminded the government that Frances Adamson, the head of Australia’s foreign department, said in June that the US move had “not been helpful” for the Middle East peace process.
George Browning, president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, accused the government of “aligning itself with the most erratic, reactionary and bullish US foreign policy ever.”
‘Irresponsible policy’
“This is an irresponsible policy that compromises the future of millions of people in the Middle East for a handful of votes in Wentworth,” Browning said.
But Morrison said he made this decision without any reference to the United States.
“It has not come up in any discussion I have had with the president,” Morrison said.