Dear Prime Minister,
I write in reference to an issue that is very close to my heart – the location of Australia’s Embassy in Israel. I am asking to you to seriously consider moving Australia’s Embassy from its current location in Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem, Israel’s eternal capital.
I can appreciate that there is sensitivity around this issue, but it need not be that way.
Jerusalem is and always has been the beating heart of the Jewish people; it has been the capital of the Jewish nation for over 3,000 years. The Israel government functions from Jerusalem, the courts rule from there. The Prime Minister, your friend Benjamin Netanyahu, resides in Jerusalem.
Every sovereign nation should have the right to define where their capital is. As it currently stands, 124 countries around the world are involved in some sort of territorial dispute, and yet 123 of them still choose their own capitals.
Moving Australia’s Embassy to Jerusalem will simply right a historical wrong.
In light of the US Embassy opening on Monday, the Guatemalan Embassy on Wednesday and Paraguay by the end of the month, I urge you to reconsider this issue. I think of Australia as a leader in ethical and moral behaviour, and I believe that we should also be seen as leaders in correcting a wrong.
For your government to champion such a move, to lead what we would hope would be a motion supported from both sides of parliament, would reaffirm your strong commitment to the State of Israel, its sovereignty, its democracy and the values we share.
Kind regards,
Dr. Danny Lamm AM
PRESIDENT
