Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad raises issue with Scott Morrison in Singapore, saying it would not be helpful

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Scott Morrison’s contentious Israel policy shift has encountered more diplomatic headwinds, with Malaysia’s prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, suggesting relocating the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would add to the cause of terrorism.

The Malaysian prime minister, known for his outspoken public interventions, raised concern in a meeting with Morrison at the Asean summit in Singapore about the prospect of Australia recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

After the meeting, Mahathir told reporters: “I pointed out that in dealing with terrorism, one has to know the causes. Adding to the cause for terrorism is not going to be helpful.”

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Officials say the meeting on Thursday included discussion about education cooperation, cities policy, cooperation on counter-terrorism and commercial matters. At the end of the meeting, Mahathir, echoing concern from Jakarta about the putative foreign policy shift, raised concern about the recognition of Jerusalem.

Morrison told the Malaysian prime minister no decision had been made, and he said there would be an internal process for resolving Australia’s policy. According to Australian officials, Mahathir did not say the current policy review was contributing to terrorism.

The veteran Malaysian leader also described Donald Trump to reporters in Singapore as an “international bully” and “villain” over America’s plan to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Australia’s spy agency warned ministers the day before the public announcement that Morrison’s proposed shift in Middle East policy to relocate the embassy may “provoke protest, unrest and possibly some violence in Gaza and the West Bank”.

Malaysia’s objections follow similar concerns from Indonesia. In response to a public warning from the Indonesian trade minister, Enggartiasto Lukita, that Jakarta will not sign off on a free-trade deal with Canberra if the embassy shift proceeds, the Australian prime minister has told his counterpart, Joko Widodo, this week that a final decision would be made before Christmas.

The fraught meeting with Widodo kicked off Morrison’s program at the Asean summit in Singapore – his first summit season as prime minister.

The Israel shift, flagged in the run-up to the Wentworth byelection, has become a major political headache for Morrison, and has prompted government colleagues to question his judgment.

Some moderates want Morrison to dump the idea, but government conservatives favour the shift. The defence minister, Christopher Pyne, repeated a position on Thursday that he favoured two diplomatic presences – an Australian embassy in West Jerusalem and a separate facility in East Jerusalem in the event of a Palestinian state – and he suggested that was the policy Morrison was currently pursuing.

Pyne told Sky News pursuing two embassies was the government’s ultimate position “as I understand it” – although that has never been articulated by Morrison publicly.

“We’ll see where the process leads us in terms of moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but in the event we did establish an embassy in West Jerusalem and move from Tel Aviv, and in the event there was a second state, I would envisage there would be an embassy in East Jerusalem for the Palestinian state,” Pyne told Sky News on Thursday.

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“That’s what I understand the policy to be if the process leads us to that outcome that the prime minister has put in place”.

Asked whether that option had been conveyed to Jakarta, Pyne said: “I don’t know about that.”

Labor has been intensely critical of the fracas. Bill Shorten declared on Thursday that Morrison had “made himself look stupid and made our country look stupid”.

Morrison shrugged off the criticism. “If [Bill Shorten] doesn’t wish to consider the issue, that’s a matter for him.

“But Australia will determine our foreign policy issues and we’ll consider those in our time frame on our terms.”

Shorten said the prime minister should not delay in making a call on the plan if he’s already decided against it.

“I don’t see why this nation has to wait until Christmas so Mr Morrison can climb off his high horse,” he said. “Let’s just get on with it. No shame in admitting you’re wrong and let’s just get on to the next issue including improving our trade opportunities in our region.”

Morrison also downplayed reports the former trade minister Steve Ciobo told his Indonesian counterpart there was “less than a 5% chance” of the move going ahead.

“They don’t reflect the views of the government and I’m not aware of him even having said that,” he said.

Morrison will travel to Darwin on Friday to host the Japanese prime minister. Shinzo Abe is the first Japanese prime minister to visit Darwin since the second world war – the site of a major Japanese attack.

The Australian prime minister will then travel on to Port Moresby for the Apec summit over the weekend.

• Australian Associated Press contributed to this report