Australia Abstains From UN Resolution on Israel, Edges Closer to Recognition of Palestinian State

An emblem of the United Nations is pictured on the arm of a German armed forces Bundeswehr soldiers at the military air base in Wunstorf, northern Germany, on Dec. 15, 2023. Ronny Hartmann/ AFP via Getty Images

Australia has abstained from voting on a Palestinian resolution put forward at the United Nations (U.N.) that called for Israel to withdraw from Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank.

The move comes as Australia’s ambassador to the U.N. said the nation was nearing recognition of a Palestinian state as an integral part of the peace process.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong told ABC Radio that she had sought amendments to the resolution because she had wanted to see it approved, however when this failed, Australia decided to abstain.

Wong did not elaborate in detail on Australia’s demands around amendments, and her office did not respond to a request from The Epoch Times for this information.

“We worked very hard in New York, with others including the Palestinian delegation, to seek amendments that would enable us to support it as we did the recognition vote and the ceasefire vote, where the text enabled Australia to support it,” Wong said on Sept. 19.

“We were disappointed that the amendments that we and many others sought were not accepted.

“For that reason, we abstained.”

The resolution urged the U.N. to adopt the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling from July, which deemed that Israel’s presence in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza was unlawful and that Israel should focus on immediately leaving those areas.

The ruling was brought about after South Africa lodged a case against Israel with the ICJ, a move that was heavily praised by Iran.

Position on Palestinian State Softens

Australian Ambassador to the U.N. James Larsen expressed Australia’s strong support for a two-state solution when explaining why Australia could not come to an agreement on the resolution.

“We wanted to vote for a resolution that directly reflected the ICJ advisory opinion, we wanted to vote for a resolution that clearly offered the Palestinian people a path to self-determination and gave the world a path to a two-state solution and we wanted to vote for a resolution that gave the international community a clear way to respond to the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion,” he told the U.N.

“However, we are concerned that by making demands of the entire United Nations membership to go beyond the scope of the advisory opinion, the resolution distracts from what the world needs Israel to do.”

Larsen said he was left “deeply disappointed.”

He told the U.N. that Australia had made a number of moves in support of Palestinians, such as adopting the term “occupied Palestinian territories” to refer to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

Further moves include deeming the presence of Israelis in that region illegal, placing individual sanctions against some Israelis, doubling funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA) and stopping weapons supply to Israel in five years.

Nine UNWRA members were sacked in August after a U.N. investigation found they may have been involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Larsen said Australia had also moved its position on recognising a Palestinian state, saying it was only a matter of time before recognition would be granted.

“We now see recognition as an integral part of the peace process,” he said.

Larsen also called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of nearly 100 Israeli hostages who are still being held there since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year.

Six Israeli hostages were recently discovered in a tunnel in Rafah after being executed by Hamas.

Palestine-Led Resolution

The Palestinian U.N. resolution demands Israel’s withdrawal within 12 months, and had the support of 124 nations including Belgium, Beijing, Ireland, Russia and Spain.

Australia joined with 43 nations who abstained from voting, which also included Austria, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Only 14 nations voted against—Argentina, Czechia, Fiji, Hungary, Israel, Malawi, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, Tuvalu and the United States.

Despite the resolution—the first to be put forward by the “state of Palestine” which Australia does not yet officially recognise—receiving majority support, its implementation is merely symbolic.

Palestine is not a full member state of the U.N., but a permanent observer.

The group was granted extra rights within the General Assembly this year, which allows Palestinians to put forward resolutions.