Australia’s ‘yes’ vote on Palestine at UN slammed by Labor MP

“We all know one vote won’t on its own end this conflict - it has spanned our entire lifetimes - but we all have to do what we can to build momentum towards peace,” she said.

She said Palestinian statehood would be recognised “when we think the time is right”.

“Hamas has no place in the future governance of Gaza.”

Vote attracts criticism

However, Mr Burns said Australia should have abstained alongside 25 other countries because “it would have signalled we’re open to further recognition” while acknowledging “the short-term hurdles” on the road to “lasting peace”.

In an Instagram post, he said Australia’s vote didn’t reflect Ms Wong’s speech in April in which she outlined the conditions needed for Australia to recognise Palestinian statehood.

“These included Hamas having no role in the future governance of Gaza, that a future Palestinian State should be led by a reformed Palestinian Authority who post no security threat to Israel,” he said.

“In my opinion, these conditions have not yet been met.”

He pointed out Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, is still holding more than 130 hostages.

“Antisemitism is on the rise in Australia and this decision will make Jewish Australians feel even more isolated as they remain gravely concerned for hostages in Gaza,” he said.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison described Australia’s vote as “the most hostile policy act” of any Australian government towards Israel.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said voting in favour of the resolution put Australia out of step with important allies who abstained or rejected it and risked emboldening terrorists.

“Labor’s support for the resolution sends a shameful message that violence and terrorism get results ahead of negotiation and diplomacy,” he said.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon claimed the vote would empower Iran and Hamas to further destabilise the region.

Momentum needed

Australian Ambassador to the United Nations James Larsen said new momentum was needed to encourage progress towards the two-state solution.

“Like many member states, Australia has been frustrated by the lack of progress. There is a role for the international community to build momentum, set expectations that parties resume negotiations for tangible progress and to support efforts for a political process,” he said.

“Australia no longer accepts that recognition can only come at the end of the peace process.”

Palestine already has observer status at the UN and Friday’s vote was largely symbolic because the UN Security Council needs to approve full membership. Last month, the United States used its Security Council veto to thwart the bid.

On Friday, the US was among the nine countries that voted against the new resolution, along with Israel.

US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said the new resolution “does not resolve the concerns” about the Palestinian membership application raised last month at the Security Council.

“Should the Security Council take up the Palestinian’s membership application as a result of this resolution there will be a similar outcome,” Mr Wood warned.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon claimed the vote would empower Iran and Hamas to further destabilise the region.

Before the vote, Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan lashed out at countries voting in favour of the resolution, saying they would be “opening up the United Nations to modern-day Nazis to genocidal jihadist committed to establishing an Islamic state across Israel in the region murdering every Jewish man, woman and child It makes me sick”.

Australia’s ambassador Larsen defended the decision saying, “We have listened to Israel’s concerns. Australia will always remain committed to Israel’s right to exist in peace and security.”

Resolution underwent significant changes

Under the UN Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be “peace-loving”, and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a UN non-member observer state in 2012.

The resolution “determines” that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership — dropping the original language that in the General Assembly’s judgment it is “a peace-loving state”. It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request “favourably”.

The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the UN comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at centre stage.

At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.

The original draft of the assembly resolution was changed significantly to address concerns not only by the US but also by Russia and China, according to three Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private.

The first draft would have conferred on Palestine “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” in the assembly’s sessions and UN conferences “on equal footing with member states”. It also made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly.

According to the diplomats, Russia and China, which are strong supporters of Palestine’s UN membership, were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annex to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be UN members — with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authority’s application for UN membership in 2011. It failed because the Palestinians didn’t get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Council’s 15 members.

They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a UN observer to a non-member observer state. That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join UN and other international organisations, including the International Criminal Court.

In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full UN membership. The vote was 12 in favour, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining, and the United States voting no and vetoing the resolution.

With Reuters