SUVA, Fiji — Israel has been accepted as a partner of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s main political body, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said, RNZ and Reuters reported.
The ministry said Forum Secretary General Baron Divavesi Waqa told Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar of the decision, which was made at the leaders’ meeting in Palau last month. Sa’ar posted the announcement on X:
Israel will take part in the Forum’s Sectoral Partnership Stream, working with the region on water management, desalination, agriculture and climate change adaptation, the ministry said. The Forum has more than two dozen outside dialogue partners, including the United States, China, Britain, France and the European Union. The Forum Secretariat had not issued its own statement, RNZ reported.
In New Zealand, which hosts the Forum next year, Labour foreign affairs spokesperson Vanushi Walters said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has “serious questions to answer on how this situation has come about and what steps New Zealand took to object.” She noted that Luxon has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to New Zealand, after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants. Luxon said the decision was ultimately the Forum’s and that Israel’s status would be “lower tier.”
ACT leader David Seymour welcomed Israel, calling it “another democratic country in the Pacific Islands Forum.” Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Naoero have opened embassies in Jerusalem, and Samoa says it plans to do the same.
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