ISTANBUL
New Zealand's decision not to recognize Palestine at the 80th UN General Assembly triggered criticism inside the country as former Prime Minister Helen Clark called it "Day of Shame" for her country.
"Day of shame for #NZ. In late timeslot towards end of high-level segment of UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister reveals what Cabinet decided 11 days ago: that unlike many others with whom #NZ normally is likeminded, Govt will not recognise #Palestine," Clark said through the US social media company X.
Clark described the decision made by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's government as "incomprehensible."
On Friday, New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters told the 80th session of the UN General Assembly that Wellington is not yet ready to recognize the state of Palestine.
"The New Zealand Government believes that it has one opportunity to recognize Palestinian statehood and it would make better sense to do so when conditions offer greater prospects for peace and negotiation than at present," he said.
Peters told the General Assembly that aid must flow into Gaza and that the violence must stop.
The government announces an additional major financial contribution to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, he also noted.
Chloe Swarbrick, Green co-leader, also strongly reacted to her country's decision, and criticized the government for not joining like-minded nations to recognize Palestine at the General Assembly.
"I know that there are a lot of New Zealanders who are very angry at Christopher Luxon government's actions on the world stage, refusing to recognize Palestinian statehood or do the right thing in sanctioning Israel same," she said in a video statement through the US social media platform Facebook.
Swarbrick also criticized New Zealand for recognizing Israel and said Israel murdered tens of thousands of innocent people, including journalists.
"You don't get to pretend that you are working towards a two-state solution while only recognizing one of those two states, the one which is actively committing a genocide," she said.
The Israeli army has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. Months of air and ground assaults have left Gaza largely uninhabitable, pushing its population into displacement, famine, and diseases.