Australian Jewish group: Palestinian recognition ‘departs from decades of bipartisan consensus’

Australia’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next month “has departed from decades of bipartisan consensus” on Israel’s future, says Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion.

“Australia is now committed to recognizing as a state an entity with no agreed borders, no single government in effective control of its territory, and no demonstrated capacity to live in peace with its neighbors,” the head of the country’s representative Jewish organization says in a statement. “This commitment removes any incentive or diplomatic pressure for the Palestinians to do the things that have always stood in the way of ending the conflict.”

The announcement is “a betrayal and abandonment of the Israeli hostages who continue to languish in appalling conditions in Gaza without even access to the Red Cross,” Aghion says. It will make Israel feel “wronged and abandoned” while showing Hamas and other Islamist groups that “barbarity on a grand scale can lead to desired political transformation.”

“The Jewish community is not surprised by this announcement,” Aghion writes. “We knew from the government’s public statements and our private engagement that this move was coming. This does not lessen our disappointment.”

Many in Australia’s 120,000-strong Jewish community blame Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government for failing to rein in a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks and violent rhetoric throughout the country.