Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordanian Government Spokesman Barbat Amon stated that the Jordanian government "rejects Australia's decision to no longer recognize east Jerusalem as occupied territory," stated Israel Radio in a report on Saturday , Jerusalem Post outlets on Saturday.
Amon stated that all territory gained by Israel in the "Six Day War" of 1967 is considered "occupied territory" by international law. Those territories include east Jerusalem and the Old City which were wrestled from Jordanian control in the war.
The announcement comes after Australia's Attorney General George Brandis addressed the Australian senate on Thursday and stated that the country's foreign policy would be changed to no longer describe east Jerusalem as “occupied territory." The announcement signaled a significant policy shift welcomed in Israel.
“The description of east Jerusalem as ‘Occupied East Jerusalem’ is a term freighted with pejorative implications, which is neither appropriate nor useful,” said, reading out a statement written following a conversation with Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop.
“It should not and will not be the practice of the Australian government to describe areas of negotiations in such judgmental language,” he said.