Howard and Downer condemn Palestine recognition as betrayal of international law

Former prime minister John Howard and former foreign minister Alexander Downer have launched a scathing attack on the Albanese government’s approach to Palestinian statehood, describing any premature recognition as “a betrayal of international law”.

In a joint statement released on Thursday, the two former Liberal politicians accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke of undermining Australia’s relationship with Israel for “short-term domestic political advantage”.

“Both the Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, have undermined a relationship of enduring trust between Australia and Israel,” Howard and Downer wrote. “In doing so, they have failed to match the leadership and strength once shown by Labor figures such as Bob Hawke and Dr H. V. Evatt.”

The pair argued that Palestine does not meet the legal requirements for statehood under international law, citing the Montevideo Convention of 1933, which requires a defined territory, permanent population, effective government and capacity to engage with other states.

“Palestine, as it stands today, does not meet these standards,” they said. “It has no agreed borders. The West Bank remains under a patchwork of Israeli and Palestinian administrative arrangements, while Gaza is controlled by Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organisation by Australia, the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.”

Howard and Downer emphasised that recognition would undermine the Oslo Accords, which established a framework for negotiations between Israel and Palestinians to resolve final-status issues including borders, settlements, refugees and security.

“Recognition of a Palestinian state outside this framework discards those commitments,” they argued. “It offers the prize of statehood without requiring the compromises, governance capacity, and accountability that a durable peace demands.”

The former ministers warned that premature recognition would set a dangerous precedent by contradicting decades of UN Security Council resolutions affirming that Palestinian statehood must emerge from negotiations, not unilateral declarations.

“If binding resolutions can be brushed aside when politically inconvenient, then the authority of international law itself begins to unravel,” they said.

While acknowledging their concern about “death and suffering” in the current conflict, Howard and Downer placed responsibility firmly on Hamas for the October 7, 2023 attacks that triggered the war.

“We should never lose sight of the fact, that it was the cruel unjustified and aggressive action of HAMAS on the 7th October 2023 which is responsible for the state of affairs now distressing so many,” they wrote, using capitalisation as emphasis.

The pair contrasted the current government’s approach with Australia’s historical role in the region, praising Evatt’s instrumental support for Israel’s establishment in 1948 and Hawke’s defence of Israel’s legitimacy while advocating for Palestinian rights.

“That tradition combined realism with moral clarity,” they said. “It did not indulge in symbolic gestures at the expense of legal substance.”

Howard and Downer argued that rather than advancing peace, premature recognition would “entrench division” by teaching Palestinian leadership that “peace is unnecessary for statehood” while signalling to Israel that international institutions cannot be trusted.

The statement comes after the Albanese government announced last month its intention to formally recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in a few weeks time, following similar moves by several European nations including Ireland, Spain and Norway earlier this year.

“We all want to see peace in the Middle East: a lasting two-state solution that guarantees Israel’s security and offers dignity and self-determination to the Palestinians,” Howard and Downer concluded. “But such a peace cannot be imposed from abroad, nor achieved by unilateral recognition. It must be built painstakingly by the parties themselves, through negotiation, compromise, and responsibility.”