Asian Angle | Australia should tread lightly on Jerusalem, or risk a boomerang effect

In following Trump and suggesting Canberra will recognise the city as the capital of Israel, PM Scott Morrison is risking overseas trade with the Muslim world for domestic Jewish votes he does not need

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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, alongside his minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, discusses a plan to overturn decades of Australian foreign policy and move Australia’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Photo: EPA

Published: 7:30am, 19 Oct 2018Updated: 7:36am, 19 Oct 2018

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s remarks that Canberra might recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there have provoked indignation Down Under, where they have been viewed as a cynical attempt to court Jewish votes ahead of the Wentworth by-election on Saturday.

The election is important as the Liberal Party-led government only has a one-seat majority in parliament. The Wentworth seat was vacated by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after he was ousted from the leadership by Morrison.

Wentworth has a significant Jewish population, and has traditionally voted Liberal. The assumption is that they will reward Morrison’s remarks on Jerusalem by voting for his party, although the support for Israel’s policies among Jewish Australians is far from unanimous.

Critics have argued that recognising Jerusalem as the Israeli capital was unnecessary to court the Jewish vote precisely because Wentworth is a solidly Liberal constituency anyway, and would only damage Australia’s relations with other countries, particularly Indonesia. Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Hartcher, the paper’s international editor, observed: “The US can be stridently, uniquely pro-Israel because it’s America. It’s a superpower. Australia is not.”

Indeed, the timing of Morrison’s remarks is particularly problematic because they came amid fundamental changes transforming the Middle East that could boomerang in ways not foreseen by Australia. When United States President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Arab world was taken by surprise, as all their efforts had been devoted to dissuading him from taking that step. After their initial shock, they have learned from their mistakes and have taken steps in cooperation with bigger players in the Muslim world to dissuade others from recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.