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At a press conference overnight, the Prime Minister said it was time to realise Australia’s “long-term position on a bipartisan basis of two states”.
“One of those states is, of course, Israel,” he told reporters alongside Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
“The other, of course, is Palestine.”
He stressed that Australia was not acting alone, noting that both Canada and the UK were also taking the step.
By doing so, “three of the Five Eyes nations are all making this decision today”, he said, referring to the intelligence-sharing pact that also includes New Zealand and the US.
“We recognise the legitimate and long held aspirations of the people of Palestine of a state of their own,” Mr Albanese said.
“And in doing so, we reaffirm Australia’s long standing of two states, the state of Israel and the state of Palestine, living side-by-side behind internationally recognised borders and peace and security.”
He also said he would attend a conference on the two-state solution hosted by France and Saudi Arabia on Monday (local time).
“Australia is a long-standing supporter of a two-state solution as the only pathway to a secure and prosperous future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Mr Albanese said.
A two-state solution would give both Israelis and Palestinians countries with sovereign, internationally recognised borders.
It was part of Resolution 181 – the UN resolution that laid the groundwork for Israel’s establishment in 1948.
Despite overwhelming support among the international community, little has materialised in the nearly 80 years since the UNGA first adopted the idea and the US has repeatedly vetoed any votes to make Palestine a member of the UN.
With large-scale civilian suffering in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government openly against a Palestinian state, many of Israel’s Western allies, including Australia, have cautioned time to recognise Palestine is running out.
‘No Palestinian state’
Though, the moves overnight seem to have only hardened Mr Netanyahu’s opposition to a two-state solution.
In a video message, Mr Netanyahu blasted Palestinian recognition as “the latest attempt to force upon us a terror state in the heart of our land”.
“There will be no Palestinian state,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“I have a clear message to those leaders who are recognising a Palestinian state after the horrendous October 7 massacre: you are rewarding terror with an enormous prize.
“And I have another message for you: it’s not going to happen.
“There will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River.”
Mr Netanyahu’s vow cropped up as Mr Albanese fronted the morning shows on Monday.
Asked if he was worried that the Israeli government may look to expand settlements in the West Bank, Mr Albanese said that “they’ve been doing that”.
“That is one of the things that has led for the world to act,” he told the ABC.
“We’ve seen an ongoing expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
“We have Israeli ministers who completely reject any idea of Palestinians having any future homeland.
“And we’ve seen as well as the humanitarian catastrophe that’s unfolding in Gaza, the loss of life, the failure to provide enough aid, essential food and water, the targeting of areas that certainly are not military, and the loss of life.”
He pointed to the resolution backed by parliament after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023, saying it “called for the protection of innocent life, that called for the implementation … and the compliance with international law”.
“And we continue to be strong advocates,” Mr Albanese said.
“And what has happened is that the world is saying enough is enough – the cycle of violence must end.”
‘Chilling act’
Meanwhile, the opposition has said recognising Palestinian statehood is “reckless”, breaks a decades-long bipartisan position and could “prolong” the war in Gaza.
Sussan Ley and her foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash slammed the move in a statement, saying: “Recognition must come at the end of a peace process not during the conflict.”
“Palestine has no established borders and no effective government,” they said.
“The inconvenient truth for the Albanese Government is this recognition comes while hostages remain in tunnels under Gaza and while the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian people remain under the control of the listed terrorist organisation Hamas.”
They said Mr Albanese had “abandoned” a shared vision of “a two-state process that would assure the democratic rights of the Palestinian people and uphold the security of the State of Israel”.
“The Palestinian people can see no hope of democratic self-governance while Hamas is in power,” Ms Ley and Senator Cash said.
“Today the Albanese Government extends a hollow gesture of false hope to the Palestinian people.
“For the Israeli people, it extends a chilling act of concession to the Hamas terrorists who continue to seek their annihilation.”
They also warned the “actions of the Albanese Government may prolong the conflict by strengthening Hamas’ credibility”.
“This is why the Coalition has always maintained that recognition must come after crucial conditions being fulfilled, not before,” they said.
“The Coalition opposes this decision and calls for it to be reversed.
“A responsible Australian government must deal with the world as it is, not as it would wish it to be and it should stand with our most important ally, the United States of America.”
‘Punitive measures’: Washington’s warning
Donald Trump’s top diplomat last month dismissed pledges to recognise Palestine as motivated by “internal politics” and “largely meaningless”.
But criticisms escalated at the weekend when 25 Republicans, including former presidential candidate Ted Cruz, penned a letter to Mr Albanese and the leaders of Canada, France and the UK, calling on them to rethink the “reckless policy” – a line the opposition echoed in its statement.
Also similar to the opposition, they said it “sets the dangerous precedent that violence, not diplomacy, is the most expedient means for terrorist groups like Hamas to achieve their political aims”.
“Hamas’s war crimes are clear, and its rejection of diplomacy should lead your countries to impose more pressure,” they wrote.
“Instead, you offer greater rewards.”
The group also warned recognition “imperils the security of your own countries”.
“Proposed recognition is coinciding with sharp increases in anti-Semitic activity in each of your countries,” they wrote.
“You have the responsibility to stand against this scourge, denounce violence, and protect Jewish communities.
“Sadly, your actions to legitimatize a Palestinian terror state will only provide greater motivation to the violent anti-Semitic mobs.
“Proceeding with recognition will put your country at odds with longstanding US policy and interests and may invite punitive measures in response.”
They went on to say that Hamas’s “war crimes are clear, and its rejection of diplomacy should lead your countries to impose more pressure”.
“Instead, you offer greater rewards,” the Trump allies said.
“It is baffling and deeply troubling to reward Hamas with statehood before they have returned every hostage.”
Hamas killed some 1200 in its unprecedented October 7 attacks in 2023, slaughtering entire families and torturing innocents while celebrating the horrors in real-time online.
The Islamist group took hundreds of Israelis hostage as its fighters retreated into Gaza.
Israel has been relentless in its pursuit of those responsible, raining air strikes on the Palestinian territory that have killed tens of thousands and reduced most of the territory’s buildings to rubble.
Its chokehold on aid has sparked dire warnings of famine, while doctors struggle to contain disease and treat the malnourished and wounded.
After nearly two years of war, Hamas continues to hold dozens of Israeli hostages in its vast tunnel network that riddles Gaza’s civilian areas.
When Mr Albanese announced his intention last month, he said a “two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza”.
