JERUSALEM тАФ Australia rescinded on Tuesday its recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reversing a decision made in 2018 by a previous administration, angering the Israeli government and drawing praise from the Palestinian leadership.
AustraliaтАЩs foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said her government had made the move to avoid complicating hypothetical future peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
тАЬJerusalem is a final-status issue that should be resolved as part of any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people,тАЭ Ms. Wong said in a statement.
тАЬWe will not support an approach that undermines this prospect,тАЭ she added.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem its united capital, but Palestinians hope its eastern section, which is considered occupied territory by the United Nations, will form the capital of a future Palestinian state. Many countries do not recognize any part of the city as IsraelтАЩs capital, pending an agreement between the two sides about its status.
The previous Australian government, led by Scott Morrison, a conservative, recognized West Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in 2018, but never transferred the Australian Embassy to the city from Tel Aviv.
His move followed the Trump administrationтАЩs recognition of Jerusalem and transfer of the United States Embassy to the city, a decision later copied by a handful of other countries.
The Israeli government condemned AustraliaтАЩs decision to rescind its recognition and said it had summoned the Australian ambassador to Israel. Prime Minister Yair Lapid of Israel said in a statement: тАЬJerusalem is the eternal and united capital of Israel, and nothing will ever change that.тАЭ
Palestinian leaders praised the decision. Rawhi Fattouh, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, said: тАЬWe highly appreciate this step and the position of the Australian government, and we consider it a step in the right direction.тАЭ
Mr. Morrison, the former Australian prime minister, had first publicly discussed the idea of recognition during a pivotal local election in May 2018, and critics called it an attempt to win extra supporters in a voting district with a large Jewish population.
The center-left Labor Party, which defeated Mr. MorrisonтАЩs party in elections earlier this year, was highly critical of his decision at the time, calling it тАЬreckless and foolish,тАЭ and promised to rescind it once it came to power.
Under a United Nations plan to partition Palestine drawn up in 1947, Jerusalem was meant to become an international zone once British control of the territory lapsed. Instead its western section was captured by Israeli troops during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, while Jordan took control of its eastern portion.
During the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, Israel captured JerusalemтАЩs eastern section from Jordan and later annexed it. The final status of the city has been considered one of the most intractable parts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ever since.
The British prime minister, Liz Truss, is reviewing the location of BritainтАЩs embassy in Israel, Ms. TrussтАЩs office announced last month. The British Embassy is in Tel Aviv, and Britain does not formally recognize Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.
Myra Noveck reported from Jerusalem, and Yan Zhuang from Sydney. Hiba Yazbek and Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.
