The Saudi Foreign Ministry welcomed on Wednesday Australia's reversal of its previous policy on the recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2022) The Saudi Foreign Ministry welcomed on Wednesday Australia's reversal of its previous policy on the recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed on Tuesday that the incumbent government is reversing its predecessors' recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, standing by the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid called Australia's decision "hasty" and said that Australian Ambassador to Israel Paul Griffiths would be summoned to the Israeli foreign ministry later in the day.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's welcome for the Australian Government's announcement to rescind its recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," the ministry said in a statement, published on Twitter.
Saudi Arabia still adheres to a "firm position" on the Palestinian problem, advocating for combining efforts to find a settlement of the issue and to establish the Palestinians' independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, the ministry reiterated.
In 2018, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Australia recognized West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and intended to open trade and defense offices there. However, the Labor party that now runs the government did not accept the decision.
Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital, and the status of the holy city has long been regarded as a matter that must be resolved through a Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
