In a series of coordinated actions on Wednesday morning, Ireland, Spain, and Norway announced their recognition of the Palestinian state.
Israel reacted immediately to the announcement that Ireland, Spain, and Norway would formally recognize a Palestinian state on May 28. Israel warned it would retaliate by recalling its ambassadors from Dublin, Madrid, and Oslo and withholding essential funding from the Palestinian Authority.
In a series of coordinated actions on Wednesday morning, the three European nations finally made the much-anticipated declarations, claiming that they were doing so to promote peace in the Middle East and a two-state solution.
Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain, declared to cheers in the Madrid parliament, “We are going to recognize Palestine for many reasons and we can sum that up in three words: peace, justice, and consistency.” “There needs to be mutual guarantees of security and we need to ensure that the two-state solution is respected.”
Simon Harris, the Taoiseach of Ireland, stated that Palestine had a rightful claim to independence. He said at a press conference in Dublin, “It is a statement of unequivocal support for a two-state solution, the only credible path to peace and security for Israel, for Palestine, and for their peoples.” “I’m sure that in the upcoming weeks, more nations will join us in taking this crucial step.”
Jonas Gahr Støre, the prime minister of Norway, declared in Oslo that Oslo would recognize Palestine as an independent state “with all the rights and obligations that entails” and that peace in the Middle East could not exist without it.
The declaration was applauded by Hamas, which has administered the Gaza Strip since forcing the Palestinian Authority out in 2007, as well as the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel quickly started a diplomatic counteroffensive in an attempt to prevent other countries from recognizing Palestine. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime leader of Israel, called the move a “prize for terrorism.”
“This would be a terrorist state. It would try to carry out the October 7 massacre again and again – and that, we shall not agree to,” Netanyahu said.
Israel Katz, the foreign minister, threatened more “severe consequences” if the Israeli ambassadors were not allowed to return to the three nations for consultations.
“I am sending a clear message today: Israel will not be complacent against those who undermine its sovereignty and endanger its security,” he said.
The ambassadors from Ireland, Spain, and Norway would be chastised, according to Israel’s foreign ministry, which would also play a film featuring female prisoners being held captive by Hamas.
Katz contended that acknowledgment would hinder attempts to repatriate captives held in Gaza and reduce the likelihood of a truce by “rewarding the jihadists of Hamas and Iran”.
In response, the Palestinian Authority was told that tax funds would no longer be sent to it as a kind of punishment for its “pursuit of unilateral recognition as a nation and within the framework of bilateral agreements with several countries” by Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister.
The events occurred amid a brutal seven-month conflict in Gaza that has sparked demands for an international criminal court arrest warrant on war crimes charges as well as pleas for a long-term solution for regional peace.
On October 7, Hamas massacred over 1,200 individuals, the majority of them civilians, and kidnapped another 250. The Israeli military’s onslaught in Gaza has claimed the lives of about 35,000 civilians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Sánchez restated calls for a ceasefire and charged Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, with overseeing atrocities.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is still turning a blind eye and bombing hospitals, schools, homes,” the Spanish leader said. “He is still using hunger, cold, and terror to punish more than a million innocent boys and girls – and things have gone so far that prosecutors at the international criminal court have this week sought his arrest for war crimes.”
One of the most vocal European leaders when it comes to denouncing Israel’s offensive in Gaza is Sánchez. Additionally, he has stated time and time again that the best way to resolve the Middle East conflict is to maintain a two-state solution.
Sánchez has infuriated the Israeli government by calling the number of Palestinian deaths “truly unbearable” and emphasizing that Israel’s response cannot include the “deaths of innocent civilians, including thousands of children,” all the while denouncing Hamas’s “shocking acts of terrorism” and acknowledging Israel’s right to defend itself.
“I want to know in years to come that Ireland spoke up, spoke out, in favor of peace, in favor of a political settlement that allows children in Palestine and children in Israel to live safely and in peace and security side by side,” Harris declared, accompanied by the leaders of the coalition parties.
Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, and Malta—all EU members—had hinted in recent weeks that they would be announcing their recognition. Out of the 193 UN members, 139 have acknowledged Palestinian statehood since 1988. The Irish government has stated in the past that a two-state solution and peace initiatives would both benefit from recognition.
Although Australia and the UK have hinted in recent months that they may soon follow suit, Germany stated that further discussion was necessary on the subject, and France remarked that a move along these lines was not necessary at this time. France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, stated in a statement to Agence France-Presse that his country “does not consider that the conditions have been present to date for this decision to have a real impact in this process.”
According to a White House spokesman who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden thought that diplomacy should be used to establish a Palestinian state instead of unilateral recognition.
“The president is a strong supporter of a two-state solution and has been throughout his career. He believes a Palestinian state should be realized through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition,” the National Security Council spokesperson said.
Last year, GreatGameIndia reported that using data from Wikipedia, Visual Capitalist has mapped the nations that do not recognize Palestine and Israel, with 138 of the 193 UN nations acknowledging Palestine. That number has now risen to 142.
