One of Australia’s longest-serving prime ministers has condemned government plans to recognise a Palestinian state, slamming it as a “betrayal” of international law.
Liberal elder statesman John Howard and his former foreign minister Alexander Downer criticised Labor’s decision, which followed similar moves by allies such as the UK, Canada and France.
“To recognise Palestine prematurely is a betrayal of the legal order that underpins the very idea of a rules-based international system,” the duo said in a joint statement published on Thursday.
Mr Howard and Mr Downer said Palestine did not meet the requirements for statehood as laid out by the Montevideo Convention of 1933.
They also maintained a Palestinian state must emerge from negotiations not unilateral declarations, citing the position of the United Nations Security Council.
If binding resolutions could be brushed aside, then the “authority of international law itself begins to unravel”, the two ex-Liberal leaders said.
Experts have said recognising Palestine is at the discretion of individual states and doing so would not breach any laws or legal obligations.
Almost 63,000 Palestinians have reportedly died in Gaza since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1200 people and taking more than 200 hostages.
More than 470,000 people in the besieged territory face catastrophic levels of food insecurity as Israel throttles the flow of aid.
A genocide case has been brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court over his alleged responsibility for war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare.
Israel has dismissed allegations of genocide as being based on a “campaign of lies” and denied widespread starvation in Gaza.
The federal government has condemned Israel’s starvation in Gaza as a “breach of international law”, and will recognise Palestine at the UN later in September.
Thousands of Australian students are pushing for the government to go further in its response, results from a national student referendum published on Thursday revealed.
More than 98 per cent of the 5000 students who participated in the National Union of Students referendum voted in favour of the government sanctioning Israel.
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