The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) is deeply disappointed by the Albanese Government’s formal recognition of a Palestinian State at the United Nations.
For decades, successive Australian governments have supported a negotiated two-state solution as the only viable path to peace. This bipartisan position held that recognition should come only through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, leading to agreed borders and security guarantees for both peoples.
In 2022, the Government justified reversing the Coalition’s decision to move Australia’s Embassy to West Jerusalem by insisting that Australia supports a two-state solution achieved through negotiations, and therefore cannot support unilateral steps. Yet today, it has taken precisely such a unilateral step.
ZFA President, Jeremy Leibler, said, “this decision rewards the very actors who have worked to destroy peace efforts. Recognising a Palestinian state while 48 hostages remain in Hamas captivity is unconscionable. The international community should be applying maximum pressure on Hamas to release the hostages and surrender before any consideration of statehood is even contemplated.”
ZFA CEO, Alon , said, “unilateral recognition removes any incentive for the Palestinians to reform or return to negotiations. If Australia wants to help, it should support Palestinians to reform and build their institutions, the foundations of any viable Palestinian state. That is how we should contribute to real peace, not by emboldening terrorists through empty symbolism.”
The ZFA supports a negotiated two-state solution with both parties committed to peaceful coexistence. But the timing of this decision could not be more inappropriate. It rewards Hamas, which openly welcomed the announcement, and has emboldened terrorists, with attacks in Israel increasing since Australia, the UK, Canada and France first signalled their intent. It has also stalled delicate ceasefire negotiations and risks prolonging the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians.
Recognising a Palestinian state is a purely symbolic move that does nothing to relieve the suffering in Gaza or to remove the persistent terrorist threat faced by Israelis. True progress will come only when Hamas is defeated, hostages are released, and Palestinians commit to a future of peaceful coexistence.
Recognising a Palestinian state on the basis of commitments from 89-year-old Mahmoud Abbas, currently serving the 21st year of his four-year term and deeply unpopular among his own people, is misguided at best and dangerously naïve at worst. Recognition without verified reforms, agreed borders, or a unified and accountable Palestinian leadership risks entrenching division rather than building peace.