By Matthew Hooton on the NZ Herald (paywalled)…
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has been proven fully justified in backing the US’ approach to bringing peace to Gaza.
Despite his own Prime Minister initially said to be gung-ho about recognising a Palestinian state, Peters insisted on a formal Cabinet process, with NZ First, Act and Defence Minister Judith Collins prevailing.
It’s highly unusual for a Prime Minister’s views on such matters not to be decisive, but Christopher Luxon may have more immediate worries.
In any case, it was a line-call. Other countries unorthodoxly recognising a state without control of territory and governed, if at all, by the terrorist group Hamas and the corrupt Fatah movement probably helped raise alarm in Israel that international support is slipping away. The killing of 67,000 Palestinians out of Gaza’s population of 2.1 million, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory, demands the toughest diplomatic response.
Peters’ position as adopted by Cabinet is consistent with international law and historical convention…
Read the full article on the NZ Herald HERE (paywalled).
