Frydenberg pushes Aussies into terrorism cross hairs

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Via The Australian:

Josh Frydenberg has launched a forceful pitch for the government to follow through with moving its Israeli embassy to ­Jerusalem, despite a regional backlash and domestic pressure to influence Scott Morrison’s ­review.

…“There will be people who say to you that Australia shouldn’t move its embassy to Jerusalem but let me tell you why I believe Scott Morrison’s absolutely right to make a principled statement that we now are beginning a proces­s to consider,” he said.

“There is a fundamental point here, that the government is not backing off: Australia determines its own foreign policy ­decisions around the locations of its embassies.”

Does it, Josh? Sounds more like Israel is making that determination on our behalf. And the fallout for Australians is as obvious as it is predictable. Via Domainfax:

The party of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has predicted heightened dangers for Australians if Mr Morrison offends millions of Muslims with a divisive change in policy on the Middle East.

“I think in this case Australia is insensitive of Indonesia and Asia. We have to understand that we cannot choose neighbours,” Indonesian politician Dian Islamiati Fatwa told Fairfax Media in an exclusive interview.

The comments add to the backlash over Mr Morrison’s decision to consider relocating the Australian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move opposed by Muslim leaders who argue it would harm the Palestinian cause.

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The Australian national interest is clear. There is NO upside in the embassy move and big downside. It was only ever mooted as an 11th hour act of political desperation for Jewish Wentworth voters. Does Frydenberg represent Australia or Israel?

The confusion is now stoking an international incident for no reason:

Josh Frydenberg has attacked Mahathir Mohamad for making anti-Semitic remarks and for describing Jews as “hook nosed” in response to a warning from Malaysian Prime Minister that moving Australia’s embassy to Jerusalem could encourage terrorism.

“Dr Mahathir does have form as you know he’s made a number of derogatory comments in the past about Jews being hook nosed, he has questioned the number of people that have been killed in the Holocaust and he also saw the banning of Schindler’s List the movie about the saviour of millions of people by righteous gentiles through that horrible period in world history,” Mr Frydenberg told the ABC.

“Australia will make its own decisions based on its national interest.”

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It’s in our interests that you put a sock in it, Josh. Mahathir may be out of line but so are you.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.