Australia to recognise Palestinian state next month

Australia will formally recognise a Palestinian state at next month’s UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced, setting strict pre-conditions for the move and drawing condemnation from Jewish groups.

Albanese said recognition would be “predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority (PA),” including the exclusion of Hamas from any future government, acceptance of Israel’s right to exist, full demilitarisation of Gaza, and the holding of new democratic elections.

Other reforms demanded from the PA include ending the “pay for slay” scheme that rewards violence against Israelis and introducing international monitoring to prevent incitement in the West Bank.

He called the decision “part of a coordinated global effort building momentum for a two-state solution,” a reference to recent recognition pledges by France, Canada, and the UK – the latter strongly criticised by Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis yesterday.

Albanese accused Israel of “continuing to defy” international law and said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “beyond the world’s worst dreams.” He confirmed speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders in the UK, France, Japan, and New Zealand ahead of the announcement.

Hamas has since praised Albanese’s “political courage” in recognising Palestine, claiming the decision vindicated its 7 October attacks and commitment to “armed resistance”. Rejecting Albanese’s assertion that the militant group would be “totally opposed” to the move, a senior Hamas official urged other nations to follow Australia’s lead.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) denounced the Albanese government’s plan, saying: “the government has departed from decades of bipartisan consensus which has envisaged Palestinian statehood and recognition as part of a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab States.

“Today’s announcement acknowledges the need for all the hostages to be released and for Hamas to be disarmed and removed from power. It accepts that the Palestinians and the Arab States have to recognise and make peace with Israel as the State of the Jewish people, and normalise relations with it. The major flaw in the announcement is that it relegates all of these conditions to the status of a mere promise to be fulfilled at some future time, and says nothing about what will happen if those conditions are not met.

“For this reason, we feel that the course of action announced by the government is a betrayal and abandonment of the Israeli hostages who continue to languish in appalling conditions in Gaza.”

The organisation continued by saying: “The Jewish community is not surprised by this announcement. We knew from the government’s public statements and our private engagement that this move was coming.

“This does not lessen our disappointment. Nor does it matter that Australia has taken shelter in the company of several other western democracies. If, as we fear, the move to recognising a Palestinian state outside a framework for a comprehensive peace will lead to further bloodshed, those same western governments will bear a heavy burden of responsibility.”

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said his country would consider recognition at an upcoming cabinet meeting. He stressed that any decision would weigh whether “sufficient progress” was being made on security, political, diplomatic, and economic benchmarks.

“This is not a straightforward, clear-cut issue,” Peters said, citing “a broad range of strongly held views” in government, parliament, and New Zealand society.