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SYDNEY, Australia – Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke Tuesday of the possibility of moving Tel Aviv's Australian embassy in Israel to Israel, an idea that has drawn criticism as a mere bald political ploy.
The relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem would mark a break in Australia's long-standing position on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and could have global consequences by encouraging others to do the same.
Mr. Morrison made the announcement on Tuesday, saying he was "open-minded" about the embassy's move, while insisting that he remain committed to a two-way solution. States.
"But frankly, things did not go well," Morrison said of efforts to reach a two-state solution. "Little progress has been made and you do not keep doing the same thing and do not expect different results."
Morrison congratulated a Liberal Party candidate, Dave Sharma, for persuading him to consider the proposal. Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, is standing in local elections to occupy a seat long occupied by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is now at stake.
A loss of the Liberal Party in the elections would mean that the Conservative coalition government, including the Liberal and National parties, would lose its majority of one seat in Parliament. This means that one would have to negotiate the individual votes of the other members to pass a federal law or budget.
Mr. Turnbull had been at the Liberal Party headquarters in Wentworth for 14 years. But he left after being ousted from his duties as party leader and prime minister in August.
Rather than stay in Parliament to maintain the meager majority of the coalition, he resigned and settled in his West Side apartment in Manhattan. He recently participated in a forum on Indonesia and Australia organized by a Washington think tank.
The way in which the Liberals treated Mr. Turnbull turned the election of the seat into a real electoral battle, with party observers fearing that this could be entrusted to one of Mr. Sharma's opponents.
Some voters expressed distrust of Mr. Gamison.
Michael Mobbs, environmental consultant, described Morrison's announcement at Sydney's "Shop and Wine Bar" as "opportunistic politics".
A considerable number of Jewish voters live in Wentworth, and Mr Mobbs said many of his interlocutors had been "outraged that this would become a political problem." He added that he would vote for the Labor candidate.
"This is not the time to talk about an embassy in a distant foreign country," he said. "It's a degrading ethnic policy."
But in a kosher bakery in Rose Bay, Sarah Lavan, a kindergarten teacher, praised the announcement.
"We are happy and proud of him," she said of the prime minister. "I think it's a brave step. My husband was so happy this morning, he voted all his life for the Liberal Party. "
She dismissed criticisms that it was a political gesture to secure a victory in Wentworth.
"I do not think the step is to win more Jewish votes," she said. "Whatever the reason, action is what matters."
Opposition Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the announcement showed "how desperate Scott Morrison is to keep Wentworth's seat."
"Does anyone really think that he will succeed?" She says. "He is just applying for a by-election that he is desperate to win in order to retain a slim majority."
Ms. Wong stated that Mr. Morrison's position went against that of the former Liberal Party leaders, and even Mr. Morrison himself. Mr Morrison said in June that there was little indication that the party would support such an approach.
The proposal has already been approved in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heading to Twitter to share the news.
The relocation request from the embassy is not new, said Lydia Khalil, research fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. The decision of the embassy, as well as the opposition to the Iranian nuclear deal, are part of a "persistent stance defended by the voices of Australian Jews," she said. .
The relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem would benefit the Australian alliance with the United States, would help forge a closer relationship with the Trump administration and "isolate some of the positions the more erratic against allies, "said Ms. Khalil.
"This would also promote the view that Australia is leading its national and foreign security policies through the lens of this alliance," she said.
But moving the embassy to Jerusalem "would make it very difficult to resume negotiations already blocked and difficult," she said. "This gives more ammunition to those who want to derail the peace process even further, and that does not help the already entrenched positions that have consolidated over the years and do not seem to be going anywhere."
Other countries have followed the example of Mr. Trump, including Paraguay, Honduras and Guatemala. However, the opening of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem in May sparked protests across the Palestinian territory and beyond. More than 10,000 demonstrators in Morocco took to the streets of Casablanca to condemn this initiative.
Vicky Xiuzhong Xu contributed to the reports.
