He says Australia will recognise east Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital only after a settlement has been reached on a two-state solution.
The Australian Embassy won’t be moved from Tel Aviv until such a time.While the embassy move is delayed, Morrison says the government will establish a defence and trade office in Jerusalem and will also start looking for an appropriate site for the embassy.
But Morrison’s declaration attracted criticism both from within the country and without . Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten from Labor Party has lashed out at him by saying that only claiming Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and not shifting the embassy there is a “humiliating backdown” from the October by-election campaign.
He said, “It’s been a humiliating backdown by Mr (Scott) Morrison. I’m not sure when he rushed the announcement of moving the embassy that he really knew what he was doing,”.
Australia’s decision had sparked backlash from Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia, threatening a free trade deal which has now been delayed.
