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Exec­u­tive Coun­cil of Aus­tralian Jew­ry pres­i­dent Daniel Aghion said:

“Even though the Gen­er­al Assem­bly res­o­lu­tion was watered down so as to pro­vide the Pales­tini­ans with enhanced observ­er sta­tus at the UN rather than full mem­ber­ship, it should not have been sup­port­ed.

“The Pales­tin­ian lead­er­ship is as auto­crat­ic, cor­rupt and divid­ed as ever, and remains inca­pable of form­ing a sin­gle gov­ern­ment with the capac­i­ty to rule over its claimed ter­ri­to­ry.  It con­tin­ues to foment fanat­i­cal hatred and vio­lence against Israel in the region and around the world.

“Noth­ing has changed that would jus­ti­fy the reward that the UN has giv­en the Pales­tin­ian lead­er­ship, with the Aus­tralian government’s back­ing.   Instead of incen­tivis­ing the Pales­tini­ans to return to nego­ti­a­tions with Israel, such an unearned gain will do the oppo­site.  Grand­stand­ing at the UN will not change the real­i­ties on the ground.  It will do noth­ing to free the Israeli hostages or break the grip of Hamas and alle­vi­ate the plight of Gazan civil­ians.

“One can only con­clude that Australia’s vote was dri­ven by domes­tic polit­i­cal con­sid­er­a­tions, and not by prin­ci­ple, which makes it a sad and shame­ful day for all Aus­tralians.   Aus­tralia should have joined the UK, Cana­da and the US in abstain­ing or vot­ing against the res­o­lu­tion.”