Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad criticized Australia’s move to recognize West Jerusalem on Sunday, saying that countries have “no rights” to do so.
Australia announced this week that it would recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but will not yet move the embassy from Tel Aviv.
Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, has been a prominent supporter of the two-state solution, as Jerusalem is considered to be a sacred place to Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths, making it a major obstacle to an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. Palestine wants East Jerusalem to be recognized as the capital of a Palestinian state, while Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, including the eastern sector that was annexed in the 1967 Middle East war.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat claimed Australia’s decision was due to “petty domestic politics.”