{"id":3871,"date":"2025-08-11T11:06:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T15:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/?p=3871"},"modified":"2025-08-11T11:06:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T15:06:51","slug":"australia-will-recognize-a-palestinian-state-prime-minister-albanese-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/?p=3871","title":{"rendered":"Australia will recognize a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Albanese says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) \u2014 Australia<\/a> will recognize a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday, joining the leaders of France, Britain and Canada<\/a> in signaling they would do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His remarks followed weeks of urging from within his Cabinet and from many in Australia to recognize a Palestinian state and amid growing criticism from officials in his government over suffering in Gaza, which Albanese on Monday referred to as a \u201chumanitarian catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia\u2019s government has also criticized plans announced in recent days<\/a> by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu for a sweeping new military offensive in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albanese says conditions must be met for Palestine recognition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Albanese told reporters after a Cabinet meeting Monday that Australia\u2019s decision to recognize a Palestinian state will be formalized at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The acknowledgement was \u201cpredicated on commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those commitments included no role for Hamas in a Palestinian government, demilitarization of Gaza and the holding of elections, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA two-state solution is humanity\u2019s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world\u2019s worst fears,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Israeli government continues to defy international law and deny sufficient aid, food and water to desperate people, including children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu rebuked Australia before the announcement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of Albanese\u2019s announcement, Netanyahu on Sunday criticized Australia and other European countries that have moved to recognize a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole … this canard, is disappointing and I think it\u2019s actually shameful,\u201d the Israeli leader said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia has designated Hamas a terrorist entity and Albanese repeated Monday his government\u2019s calls for the group to return Israeli hostages held since Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Australian leader last week spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority administers parts of the occupied West Bank, supports a two-state solution and cooperates with Israel on security matters. Abbas has agreed to conditions with Western leaders, including Albanese, as they prepared to recognize a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity to deliver self-determination for the people of Palestine in a way that isolates Hamas, disarms it and drives it out of the region once and for all,\u201d Albanese said. He added that Hamas did not support a two-state solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognition is growing, but is largely symbolic without the U.S.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 150 of the 193 members of the United Nations have already recognized Palestinian statehood<\/a>, most of them decades ago. The United States and other Western powers have held off, saying Palestinian statehood should be part of a final agreement resolving the decades-old Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognition announcements are largely symbolic and are rejected by Israel, and by the United States \u2014 the only country with any real leverage over Netanyahu. Israel\u2019s leader said this month that he would not accept Palestinian Authority involvement in a government for Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A two-state solution would see a state of Palestine created alongside Israel in most or all of the occupied West Bank, the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and annexed east Jerusalem, territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war that the Palestinians want for their state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albanese dismissed suggestions Monday that the move was solely symbolic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a practical contribution towards building momentum,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not Australia acting alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albanese had discussed Australia\u2019s decision with the leaders of Britain, France, New Zealand and Japan, he said. He also had a \u201clong discussion\u201d with Netanyahu this month, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In neighboring New Zealand, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Monday his government \u201cwill carefully weigh up its position\u201d on recognizing a Palestinian state before making a formal decision in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNew Zealand has been clear for some time that our recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if,\u201d Peters said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian Jewish and Palestinian groups criticized the move<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After Albanese\u2019s announcement Monday, Israel\u2019s envoy to Australia said the move undermined Israel\u2019s security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy recognising a Palestinian state now, Australia elevates the position of Hamas, a group it acknowledges as a terrorist organisation,\u201d Amir Maimon posted to X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis commitment removes any incentive or diplomatic pressure for the Palestinians to do the things that have always stood in the way of ending the conflict,\u201d spokesperson for the Executive Council of the Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, President of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network Nasser Mashni decried Albanese\u2019s recognition as too late and \u201ccompletely meaningless\u201d while the country continues to trade with Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told reporters in Melbourne on Monday that the move would do nothing to end the \u201congoing genocide in Gaza which has been live streamed for the entire world for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) \u2014 Australia will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3871"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3873,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3871\/revisions\/3873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}