News Desk :
Australia is considering recognising a Palestinian state before a major United Nations summit in September, without seeking approval from US President Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has faced a barrage of questions about Australia recognising Palestinian statehood after France vowed to make the move in September. The UK and Canada followed France, attaching conditions to their decisions.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been holding a series of diplomatic encounters about Palestinian statehood.
Sources familiar with discussions at the top of the government, not permitted to speak publicly, said the government could make an announcement this month about the position it would take at the September UN General Assembly, where Gaza and the future of a Palestinian state will be a key focus.
Labor ministers, including Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, have said publicly that recognition was a matter of time, but the government has refused to set a date for the move and made it conditional on Israel’s security and Hamas ceding control of Gaza, reports ABC News.
Asked on Thursday if he would clear any step to recognition with Trump before making it public, Albanese brushed off the need to act in line with the US, which is Israel and Australia’s top ally, saying he led a “sovereign government” that would make decisions in the national interest.
Trump has said that Canada’s move to recognise Palestine would reward Hamas and threaten US trade talks with its northern neighbour, but later clarified it was “not a deal-breaker”.
Israel’s war cabinet is due to decide in the early hours of Friday morning (AEST) whether to escalate its campaign in Gaza by moving into the approximately 25 per cent of the battered strip still controlled by Hamas. Israel’s military chief reportedly believes the step is too risky.
Hamas still holds dozens of Israeli hostages, prolonging the conflict that began with its massacre of about 1200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023.
After weeks of images showing starvation in Gaza, France, the UK and Canada sped up plans to recognise Palestine ahead of the New York UN meeting.
Australian recognition of Palestine is contingent on Hamas’ removal from Gaza. Other conditions the government has raised include reforming the alternative governing force, the Palestinian Authority, to position it as a moderate ruler of Gaza that commits to leaving Israel in peace. The authority recently committed to holding elections to allow for generational renewal.
Albanese spoke to the authority’s head, Mahmoud Abbas, this week, where he raised the necessity for the governing force in the West Bank to modernise and seek peace. The prime minister has also been building the case for a two-state solution in calls with French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“The prime minister is genuinely working with world leaders on recognition and the broader issues to achieve something practical. The timing on recognition will flow from that,” one Labor MP said.
Albanese’s office was contacted for comment.
The Israeli parliament last year voted against a two-state solution and Hamas has refused to lay down its arms, underlining the practical challenges for peace.
“We also talked about a two-state solution,” Albanese said of his call with Abbas on Thursday.
“I have long said that I want to see Israelis and Palestinians to be able to live side by side in peace and security. And there are proposals, obviously, at the moment around and discussions taking place between world leaders.”
Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Julian Hill said on the ABC on Thursday that “we need to resolve the conflict with two sustainable states because the alternatives are horrible”.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, also speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, said most Israelis opposed Netanyahu’s ongoing war in Gaza.
“I hope Israel is not a pariah state. Israel is in a crisis and the policy of the government is unacceptable to, I believe, a majority of Israelis,” he said.
But Western nations wielding recognition as a form of punishment against Israel was a mistake, he said.
“I think it’s a mistake to present it as a kind of threat, as a punishment to Israel. Really, what does the Australian prime minister say? He says Israel will not behave itself until the September assembly of the United Nations, they will recognise the Palestinian state, which doesn’t exist.”
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the government must make public any guarantees Palestinian leaders have given before diverging from US foreign policy.
“Before committing Australia to the path of unilateral recognition, a serious shift in Australian foreign policy that places us at odds not only with Israel but the United States, the government needs to reveal what undertakings the Palestinians have given and how these will be enforced,” Ryvchin said.
