Penny Wong appears to have made a proposal for the early recognition of a Palestinian state, a step on a “pathway to a peace that’s enduring”.

There is, however, a lot less to this than meets the eye. There was no proposal. There was no plan. The foreign affairs minister spoke of a concept with all the substance of a cloud, and left it floating as lonely as one.

Wong said in a scripted speech delivered to ANU’s Securing Our Future conference on Tuesday that “a secure and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians will only come with a two-state solution. Recognition of each other’s right to exist. A Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel.”

So far, this is simply a restatement of Australia’s long-standing position in favour of a two-state solution.

“We are now 30 years on from the Oslo Accords that put Palestinian statehood at the end of a process,” Wong said.

“The failures of this approach by all parties over decades – as well as the Netanyahu government’s refusal to even engage on the question of a Palestinian state – have caused widespread frustration.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Okay, so is she now suggesting a process that puts Palestinian statehood somewhere other than at the end?

She continued: “So the international community is now considering the question of Palestinian statehood as a way of building momentum towards a two-state solution.”

QOSHE - Wong’s Palestine remarks had all the substance of a cloud - Peter Hartcher
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Wong’s Palestine remarks had all the substance of a cloud

8 22
10.04.2024

Penny Wong appears to have made a proposal for the early recognition of a Palestinian state, a step on a “pathway to a peace that’s enduring”.

There is, however, a lot less to this than meets the eye. There was no proposal. There was no plan. The foreign affairs minister spoke of a concept with all the substance of a cloud, and left it floating as lonely as........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


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