The naïve fantasy-world of most Western leaders 
20 October 2022

The recently elected centre-left Labor government in Australia has walked back the decision of the previous conservative government to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and possibly move its embassy there. According to the new government, Australia does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and will keep its embassy in Tel Aviv until the status of Jerusalem has been agreed with the Palestinians. 
 
This is an outrageous decision. How can Australia deny Israel’s right to decide that Jerusalem is its capital? Does it not realize that the Israeli government is based in Jerusalem? 
 
The previous government’s decision did not infringe international law. Nor did it prejudice negotiations about East Jerusalem. It simply recogniced the political and legal reality that West Jerusalem is part of Israel, and that it is the seat of Israel’s government. 

On the contrary, this latest decision by the Albanese government profoundly infringes Israel's sovereignty. There is not the slightest doubt that West Jerusalem belongs to the sovereign territory of the State of Israel. To deny this, and pressure Israel to give up its legitimate rights to territorial integrity and political inviolability (UN Charter), is to undermine Israel's right to sovereign equality. Israel would be entitled to cut diplomatic ties with Australia. 
 
It seems that leaders like the new regime in Canberra live in a kind of utopian illusion, pretending that their Western values are going to rule the days in the Middle East. The reality, however, is much more complex. Many powers in the world are deeply opposed to Western values. 
 
Israel, however, must get on with the difficult task of daily making decisions that meet real-time threats and opportunities. One of these is the fact that Islamic terror groups deeply embedded within Palestinian territories and institutions. – largely thanks to the blind and naïve policies of Western governments who continue to pour billions into sustaining the corrupt UNRWA Palestinian refugee system, and building the façade of Palestinian statehood. 
 
Tensions are rising in the West Bank, where a new terror group is forming. The Israel Defense Forces has launched major arrest operations after a series of Palestinian attacks that killed 19 people earlier this year. 
 
Recently, PA President Mahmoud Abbas visited Moscow. Putin expressed his support of the Palestinians, while Abbas said “We don’t trust America and you know our position. We don’t trust it, we don’t rely on it, and under no circumstances can we accept that America is the sole party in resolving a problem.”
 
And yet, the EU, USA, Australia and other Western states continue to support the Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas. 
 
Israel is following closely the fact that Russia is using Iranian drones against Ukraine. Ukraine, in turn, is pressuring Israel to supply it with weapons; Israel says it will assist with a defensive system, and humanitarian aid, but not weapons. 
 
Elections coming up in Israel early November. The political landscape is fractured and splintered, and their results are still very uncertain.  
 
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is facing strong criticism for her recent remarks that she is willing to consider moving the UK embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. In a recent article (below), Melanie Philips exposes brilliantly the fear and hypocrisy that underlies the British elite’s denouncement of any policy that remotely resembles those of the much-hated Donald Trump. 
 
Many of our leaders are living in a fantasy world of their own creation. 
 
They are blind to the fact that God has ultimate authority, and is turning world affairs towards His kingdom. He is bringing His people home to the land, and warning the nations to align themselves with His purposes. 

Emanuel Fabian at Times of Israel: “Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday reiterated that Israel would not supply weapons to Ukraine to fight Russia’s eight-month-long invasion, but said Jerusalem could supply an early-warning system to the beleaguered nation to warn of incoming strikes, like the one used in Israel.”

Times of Israel reports: “The anti-terror offensive launched earlier this year has netted more than 2,000 arrests during the near-nightly raids in Palestinian cities, towns, and villages. It has also left around 100 Palestinians dead, many of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces.”

‘The US is pressing the PA to increase security coordination with Israel’

Former Arab Affairs Adviser Col. (res.) David Hacham says the current escalation does not point to a third intifada but things could change.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Thursday that the PA does not trust the United States to be an unbiased mediator in any future negotiations. Abbas’s remarks reflected his frustration with the US, which has stepped back from its once-intense mediation role between Israelis and Palestinians. Instead, Washington has turned its focus toward other pressing global issues like the war in Ukraine, relations with China and economic woes.

Hysteria greets British PM Liz Truss’s embassy move proposal

Melanie Philips writes at JNS: “Britain’s elites loathe Israel on a scale that just doesn’t exist in America.”

Australia reverses its position on Jerusalem

The recently-elected centre-left government in Australia announced this week that it will no longer recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing a 2018 decision by the previous conservative government. The government announced that Australia recognizes Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem, as Israel’s capital.