New Zealand opposition questions Israel's admission as Pacific Islands Forum partner

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - New Zealand's main opposition Labour Party on Wednesday questioned the government’s position after Israel announced it had become a “partner” of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that PIF Secretary General Baron Divavesi Waqa informed Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that Tel Aviv “has been accepted as a Forum Partner.”

The decision was made at a meeting of the leaders of the PIF member states in Palau last month, said the ministry.

Sa’ar visited Fiji in June, where he met Waqa and formally requested to join the 18-member forum as a “partner” nation.

New Zealand Labour Party Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Vanushi Walters, however, said that if her party were in government, it would have opposed Israel's inclusion in the PIF, Radio New Zealand reported.

But she said that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said earlier this month that “he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to New Zealand."

And during an election debate, New Zealand Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said that if Netanyahu came to New Zealand he should be arrested.

Luxon said he “has the same position” as Hipkins, according to the report.

The prime minister has “serious questions to answer on how this situation has come about and what steps New Zealand took to object,” Walters added.

The new tensions about Israel in New Zealand come as the country holds general elections later this month and Wellington will host the PIF summit next year.

While the PIF has yet to issue a formal statement on Israel becoming a partner nation of the bloc, the forum said Monday that Waqa and other PIF members held their first briefing with Israel on MASHAV Development Cooperation at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva, Fiji's capital. MASHAV is Israel’s agency for international development cooperation

Waqa welcomed Maya Yaron, Israel’s ambassador to Fiji and Pacific Island countries, the forum said on US social media company X.

It said Eynat Shlein, head of the MASHAV Development Cooperation, attended the meeting.

Shlein traveled from Israel to the Pacific for regional engagements, it added.

Under the new arrangement, Israel will participate in the PIF’s Sectoral Partnership Stream, “enabling focused cooperation in areas of mutual interest,” according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

“The cooperation will focus on regional priorities, drawing on Israel’s expertise in water management, desalination, agriculture, climate change adaptation, innovation and sustainable development,” it said, adding that the two sides will also develop a Partnership Action and Commitment Plan (PACE Plan).

Riyaz Khaliq Khaliq