The United States said on Tuesday it would continue to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, after Australia announced it would no longer consider it the capital of the Jewish state.
“We will let the Australian government talk about its policies, but the US position is that our embassy will remain in Jerusalem, which we recognize as the capital of Israel,” US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement. a press conference.
Patel added that the “final status” of Jerusalem, disputed by Israelis and Palestinians, must be resolved through negotiation between the two sides.
The Australian Government, led by Labour’s Anthony Albanese, announced today that it will reverse the decision made by his predecessor, Liberal Scott Morrison, in 2018 to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, arguing that the status of the capital “must resolved as part of any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry quoted Australia’s ambassador to the country, Paul Griffiths, on the decision, while the Palestinian National Authority welcomed the announcement and appealed to Canberra to recognize the Palestinian state.
In 2017, then-US President Donald Trump broke international consensus by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving his embassy the following year.
East Jerusalem was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and, in 1980, annexed as its capital, a decision not recognized by the international community.
After the annexation, the countries that had their embassies in West Jerusalem, more than 20, moved them to Tel Aviv.
The Palestinians expect East Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state.
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Source: TSF
