Bahrain defends Australia's Jerusalem move amid global outrage

Bahrain's foreign minister has tweeted in defence of Australia's decision to recognise west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying the move will have no impact on Palestinian aspirations.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

16 December, 2018

Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa tweeted the remarks about Australia's move [Getty]

Bahrain has stepped in to defend Australia's decision to recognise west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, amid global outrage from Arab and Muslim-majority nations.

The Gulf state's foreign minister tweeted on Saturday that Canberra's decision would not affect the formation of a future Palestinian state.

"Australia's stance does not impact the legitimate Palestinian demands, first among them being East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, and it does not contradict the Arab Peace Initiative," Bahraini foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, said in the social media post .

He also added that Australia's statement on Saturday was "mere rhetoric and irresponsible".

The Arab League, meanwhile, has issued a statement blasting the move as "blatantly biased towards the positions and policies of the Israeli occupation".

Australia reversed decades of Middle East policy by announcing on Saturday that it would be recognising west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, however said that it would not immediately move its embassy there.

The move follows partially in the footsteps of the United States, which moved its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in May.

The Bahraini foreign minister's remarks come amid a sustained period of warming ties between Israel and Gulf Arab states.

Israel has recently actively pursued rapprochement with a number of countries in the region and in Muslim-majority parts of Africa, including a surprise visit to Oman in October by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The visit was followed by a high-profile tour by senior Israeli ministers to the UAE and Oman, while this week Bahrain invited Israel's economy minister to a conference in the country due to take place next year.

Most recently, Israeli media outlets have reported that efforts are allegedly underway to formalise ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel before Israel's election next year.

Bahrain's minority Sunni monarchy, which has relied heavily upon Saudi Arabia to suppress uprisings by the country's Shia majority, is also rumoured to be in talks with Israel to formalise ties.

Earlier this month, Bahrain's foreign minister gave his backing for Israel's military operation to destroy cross-border tunnels allegedly built by Lebanese group Hizballah in a rare public show of support for Israel from an Arab leader.