Israel, Australian Jewish leaders and many in the Australian Jewish community welcomed the Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s statement that the Australian Government would recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital should a Palestinian State arise in the future, however this change in policy drew sharp criticism from the Israeli Minister for Regional Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi, the Malaysian PM, Indonesian Foreign Office, the Arab league and the Palestinians amongst others. The Australian Labor Party, which is in a strong position to take government in 2019, moved closer to recognising a future Palestinian State, whilst continuing to fully support Israel’s rights, when it passed a motion to that effect at its annual national conference. Jewish Schools in Sydney and Melbourne were united in rejecting the Australian Government’s Religious Freedom Review recommendation that faith-based schools be allowed to discriminate against students and staff on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and despite the roof Jewish body ECAJ cautious acceptance of the review, re-affirmed their opposition to discrimination against LGBTI+ staff and students.
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