The foreign minister of Bahrain has defended Australia’s formal recognition of the so-called “West Al-Quds” (Jerusalem) as Israeli capital, saying the move would not affect a future Palestinian state with “East Al-Quds” as its capital.

Australia’s government announced the decision on Saturday, reversing decades of Middle East policy, but said it would not immediately move its embassy there.

The United States in May opened its embassy in Al-Quds.

The Arab League (AL) had issued a statement criticizing the Australian decision as “blatantly biased towards the positions and policies of the Israeli occupation”.

But Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa described the statement as “mere rhetoric and irresponsible”.

“Australia’s stance does not impact the legitimate Palestinian demands, first among them being East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, and it does not contradict the Arab Peace Initiative,” he tweeted on Saturday.

Source: Reuters