Ms Bishop has defended her decision as “balanced” to tacitly support Israel on controversial activities such as building settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. “The government will not support resolutions which are one-sided,” said a spokeswoman for Ms Bishop when asked why the Abbott government changed Australia's position regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict in two recent United Nations votes. Ms Plibersek said the expansion of Jewish settlements in occupied territories undermined the prospect of "lasting peace through a two-state solution". Acting on instructions from Ms Bishop, government representatives at the UN have withdrawn Australia's support for an order to stop “all Israeli settlement activities in all of the occupied territories”. While 158 countries supported the UN in calling for an end to Israeli settlements, Australia joined eight other countries, including South Sudan, Cameroon, Panama and Papua New Guinea, in abstaining from voting. Labor governments under Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard condemned the settlements.

Many within the international community regard the expansion of Israeli settlements as an act of hostility towards Palestinians, hampering the likelihood of peace. The Abbott government has also indicated it no longer believes Israel, as an "occupying power", should be forced to comply with the 1949 Geneva Conventions. At the UN meeting, 160 countries supported ordering Israel to "comply scrupulously" with the conventions. Australia was one of five countries to abstain – the group again including countries such as South Sudan, Papua New Guinea, Cameroon and Vanuatu. Ms Bishop's spokeswoman said the shifts in position “reflected the government's concern that Middle East resolutions should be balanced”. “The government considers each Middle East-related resolution on a case-by-case basis, and on its merits,” the spokeswoman said, adding that Australian assistance to the Palestinian Territories in 2012-13 was $55.2 million, including $20 million to the Palestinian Authority.

“Australia strongly supports resumed final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, aimed at reaching a just and lasting two-state solution,” Ms Bishop's spokeswoman added. In keeping with the Abbott government's tight hold on information, there had been no news conferences about these changes in Middle East policy. Nor did the Abbott government consult the Palestinian community before making the changes, according to the head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, Izzat Abdulhadi. "It is very regrettable," Dr Abdulhadi said. "There was no transparency in their approach." Former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr described Australia's withdrawal of support for Palestine as "a shame, in the deepest sense".

The executive director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, Colin Rubenstein, said he "emphatically [welcomed] the government's principled leadership in changing these votes, reverting to the Howard/Downer position". Dr Rubinstein said he was "very critical of the previous government's support for these resolutions". Loading The UN resolutions encouraged "misplaced Palestinian hopes that they do not need to end incitement or make the requisite compromises in the negotiations to achieve positive results," he said. "They are part of the destructive international campaign to delegitimise Israel and are totally unhelpful to the cause of progressing to a negotiated two state outcome."