Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admits Australia's decision to reverse recognising West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel could have been handled better, as one government MP blasted his own party's handling of the matter.
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Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced on Tuesday the government had overturned a move by former prime minister Scott Morrison in 2018 to recognise West Jerusalem as Israel's capital instead of Tel Aviv.
She said the coalition's policy change was made in an attempt to win a by-election in the Sydney seat of Wentworth, which has a high Jewish population.
But Labor MP Josh Burns, who is Jewish, took to Twitter to deliver strong criticism of his own government, whose actions he said were disappointing.
"I didn't like the Morrison government playing politics with these sensitive issues, and it's my view any further alteration to Australia's policy needed to be considered extremely carefully ... to my disappointment, this did not happen," he wrote.
"People in my electorate and across Australia are hurt by this decision and to be honest, so am I."
Mr Burns said he would focus on rebuilding trust between his government and Australia's Jewish community.
Mr Albanese said circumstances around the announcement weren't ideal but said Labor policy had been entirely consistent, and criticised the former government for playing politics with the matter.
"Some things can always be done better, but the truth is we've been very clear about what our position was," he told ABC Sydney.
"The former government was duplicitous - they said the embassy would move, and it, of course, didn't move."
Former Wentworth MP Dave Sharma, who contested the by-election and lost but later won the seat, criticised the government's reversal.
"This was a policy made on the run, it wasn't planned, it wasn't rolled out properly, it wasn't handled well," he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
"This was not communicated to Israel's government in advance, which is the normal courtesy you would extend to a friend in international relations."
Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital.
Mr Sharma said the government had failed to lay out a national interest argument as to why the recognition of the capital had changed.
Palestinian diplomats in Australia welcomed the decision, saying it was a step in the right direction towards a two-state solution.
They have also called on the government to recognise Palestine as a state.
Australia's decision to reverse the recognition of the Israeli capital has brought it back into line with other foreign nations.
However, Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid expressed disappointment in the decision.
"Jerusalem is the eternal undivided capital of Israel and nothing will change that," Mr Lapid said in a statement.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he hadn't seen a bigger foreign affairs "blunder" in many years.
"It really is a very significant mistake that's been made by Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese, to damage our relations with a very important partner in Israel is unforgivable," he told reporters.
"The way Penny Wong reacted instinctively to somehow blame the coalition just showed how much she had to cover up, her attacks were without any foundation whatsoever."
Australian Associated Press
