Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Palestinians welcome Australian rejection of Jerusalem as Israeli capital

Australia has said it will no longer recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, in a policy reversal criticized by Israel but welcomed by Palestinians.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that the city’s status should be decided by Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as she revoked a contentious decision by the previous conservative government.

“Australia is committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist, in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders,” Wong said. “We will not support an approach that undermines this prospect.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said that the decision was in line with international law and sent a message to Israel that the world does not accept its annexation of the Palestinian Territories.

He praised the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the “wise and courageous” decision, which he said proved “Australia’s respect and alignment with the values of truth, justice and freedom, and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”

He said that he hoped that Australia would now recognize the state of Palestine on the borders of June 4, 1967 and that Jerusalem was its capital.

Hussein Al-Sheikh, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official, tweeted: “We value Australia’s decision on Jerusalem and its call for a two-state solution under international legitimacy, and its assertion that the future of sovereignty over Jerusalem depends on the permanent solution based on international legitimacy, which is the two-state solution.”

The Israeli government said it was disappointed with the Australian reversal.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Australian ambassador to lodge its protest, while Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: “Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal and united capital, and nothing will ever change that.”

Ahmed Al-Deek, an adviser to the Palestinian foreign minister, told Arab News that the previous Australian government had committed a historic mistake.

“We are engaged in a diplomatic-political battle at the international level over Jerusalem, as Jerusalem constitutes the key to peace in the region, and there is no Palestinian state without Jerusalem,” he said.

“Israel is trying to persuade countries to transfer their embassies to Jerusalem and recognize it as the unified capital of Israel. We hope that the Australian move will end Israeli efforts in that context,” he added.

Al-Deek called for more reversals, as “there is almost an international consensus that Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian Territories occupied in 1967. The issue is to be decided by negotiations, not by the occupation force.”

Basim Naeim, a Hamas official, said that his group considered the decision a step in the right direction for world peace and stability and “new evidence of the diplomatic failure of Israel.

“Jerusalem has been and will always be the core of the Palestinian people’s freedom struggle against the Israeli occupation,” he said.

“The Israeli occupation had been trying to impose a new reality to deny the Palestinians their rights, blatantly disregarding the international law regarding Jerusalem and its sanctities.”

He called on the international community to hold Israel’s leaders accountable for the “war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against our Palestinian people.”

Israel annexed East Jerusalem following the Six-Day War of 1967, and has declared the entire city its “eternal and indivisible capital.” Palestinians claim the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.

In 2017, the then-US President Donald Trump changed seven decades of American foreign policy by stating that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel. The US relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem the following year. Several countries, including Australia, then followed Trump’s lead.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×