Peter Dutton says Labor has ‘sold out the Jewish community’ after UN vote change on Palestine

Australia has supported a UN resolution that backs a Palestinian state and demands Israel withdraw from the Occupied Territories “as rapidly as possible”, marking after another shift in position that will further inflame tensions with Israel and puts the Federal Government at odds with the US.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Labor had “sold out the Jewish community” after reversing a position Australia had held for more than 20 years, widening the gulf between the major parties on their Middle East stance ahead of next year’s Federal election.

In a UN General Assembly vote on Wednesday morning, Australia backed a resolution on the “peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine”, which called for the “realisation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination and the right to their independent State”.

The resolution — which passed 157 votes to eight — called for a conference to be held next year in New York, which would adopt a plan to “urgently chart (an) irreversible pathway towards the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-State solution”.

It reverses a position Australia has held since 2001 and puts the Federal Government at odds with Israel and the US, which were among the eight countries to oppose the resolution.

US President-elect Donald Trump will have an even stronger pro-Israel stance than Joe Biden, creating an early point of tension for Anthony Albanese and the incoming administration.

The motion also called for the withdrawal of Israel from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In a statement outlining Australia’s stance, ambassador to the UN James Larsen said the position reflected a “determination that the international community again work together to build momentum towards this goal (of a two-state solution),” he said.

“A two-state solution remains the only hope of breaking the endless cycle of violence, the only hope to see a secure and prosperous future for both peoples,” he said.

Mr Larsen said support for the UN resolution does not “prejudge” Australia’s position on what’s known as “final status” issues relating to Palestine, such as statehood and territorial borders.

Australia also reversed a 20-year position on a second resolution, shifting from “no” to “abstain” on a question of Palestinian representation at the UN.

It voted against a third resolution regarding the Golan Heights, maintaining its long-held position.

The Federal Opposition has criticised the latest shift in position, which comes just three weeks after Australia backed a separate UN resolution supporting the “permanent sovereignty” of Palestinians over natural resources in the Occupied Territories.

Speaking after Wednesday’s vote, Mr Dutton said Mr Albanese had “sold the Jewish community out” to win over left-wing voters and people in western Sydney.

“They’ve completely abandoned the Jewish community, the State of Israel,” he said.

“There is a lot of anger, understandably in the community at the moment, with the way in which the Government has sold out the Jewish community.

“And I think the Prime Minister stands condemned.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Mr Dutton was “playing divisive political” on a “very sensitive issue”.

“Our position that we took in the United Nations reflects our view that the best peaceful outcome here is a two-state solution,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham said the shift would only serve to “please” Hamas and its backers who initiated the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

“They send completely the wrong signals,” Senator Birmingham said in a statement with shadow foreign affairs spokeswoman Claire Chandler.

“Despite promising before the last election that there was no difference between the major parties on issues related to Israel, the Albanese Government keeps creating new points of difference.

“It’s simply broken promise after broken promise as the Albanese Government has dropped or changed numerous Australian positions.”