Religious Values and Political Expediency – Australia and the Question of Jerusalem: 1947-1950

Australia's crucial role in the UN decision of 9 December 1949 to internationalize the whole city of Jerusalem and Bethlehem emanated from the mistaken belief of the Minister of External Affairs, H. V. Evatt, that many Catholic votes could be won by that initiative. The campaign in Australia to that end by some quarters in the Catholic Church clearly demonstrates very obvious anti-Semitic attitudes within its hierarchy. The policy of the Liberal-Country Party government regarding Jerusalem reflects the dilemma of a government forced by circumstances to continue pursuing a policy which it had fundamentally rejected.