ECAJ, ZFA urges Wong to reject Palestine UN vote
‘A Palestinian state cannot be declared into existence. It must exist in fact. This requires the establishment of institutions which are performing all of the functions of a state’
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) has written to Foreign Minister Penny Wong urging Australia to vote against admitting Palestine as a full United Nations member at the General Assembly.
The General Assembly could hold a vote as soon as Friday, and while it would be symbolic, it would likely place pressure on the Security Council, where a bid for Palestinian statehood was vetoed by the United States last month.
In their letter to Wong, ECAJ president Daniel Aghion and co-CEOs Peter Wertheim and Alex Ryvchin argued that “the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians can only be resolved through direct negotiations between the parties to settle the final status issues as provided in the Oslo Accords”.
“A Palestinian state cannot be declared into existence. It must exist in fact. This requires the establishment of institutions which are performing all of the functions of a state on a sustainable basis,” they said.
“The establishment of a functioning State would require comprehensive reform of the Palestinian Authority, and the eradication of those forces fundamentally and irredeemably opposed to the very notion of nation states, let alone peaceful coexistence alongside the Jewish nation state.”
The ECAJ said it Palestine were admitted as a full UN member without these requirements being met, “It would enshrine into legitimacy the present chaotic, fissiparous and dysfunctional nature of Palestinian political bodies and would thus make a two-state solution less achievable.
“It would signal to the Palestinians (and the world) that acts of mass terrorism should be rewarded,” the ECAJ said.
“It would also play into the hands of the most hard-line segments of Israeli politics by demonstrating that the international community has no understanding of or concern for Israel’s security needs.”
Aghion, Wertheim and Ryvchin cited former Labor Prime Minister Julia GIllard, who said in 2014, “I am convinced that the key to peace for Israelis and Palestinians is a simple declarative statement by Palestinian leaders – that they accept Israel as a Jewish State. Once that is stipulated, then virtually everything can be successfully negotiated.”
“The declarative statement to which Prime Minister Gillard referred, to this day has not been made,” they said.
“We urge this Government to remain steadfast in the face of short-sighted and harmful measures initiated by those more interested in damaging Israel’s international standing than in achieving a peaceful future for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
Ahead of the vote, Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler said he hoped the Australian Government would not vote for the resolution.
Leibler said, “This resolution will be counter-productive to Israeli–Palestinian peace, as it rewards Hamas violence and removes any incentive for the Palestinian Authority to implement the vital reforms required to prevent Palestine, once it emerges, from being a corrupt terrorist state.
“Australia should maintain a principled position of encouraging the Palestinian Authority to re-enter negotiations, and only offering diplomatic rewards when they are deserved.
“Australia should not be a party to anything that undermines the possibility of peace, or rewards behaviour that does the same. That is what this UN resolution will do.”
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