Australia's decision to revoke its recognition of west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has taken Israeli officials aback as they were not informed of the move ahead of time as is customary between friendly countries, Israel Hayom has learned.
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Calling the decision "wretched," Foreign Ministry political director Aliza Bin Noun told Australian Ambassador Paul Griffiths, who had been summoned on the matter, said it "only encourages extremists in the Palestinian Authority to continue to agitate the area, endangers stability and goes against the spirit of the recent period in which significant progress was made in relations between Israel and the countries of the Middle East."
She said Israel will now consider its next steps in response.
'To deliver such a rebuke to such a strong ally, there's no upside. There's no benefit to the Palestinians, to the Australian public,'
Says @AlexRyvchin of @ECAJewry, who adds he is 'shocked' by Australia's decision to retract recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel's capital pic.twitter.com/jpmxCkszih
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) October 18, 2022
Israel Hayom learned that Griffiths himself was not aware of his government's decision ahead of time and found out about it in the media. The assessment in Israel is that Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong spearheaded the move secretly to conceal it from elements that might have been opposed to it.
Just a few hours before the announcement, she denied media reports that said she was about to revoke recognition of west Jerusalem.
The previous government made this decision and the current administration does not plan to change it, her office said.
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