Spain, Ireland, and Norway Recognized Palestinian State
- washingtoninstitute.org
Palestine – Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday (May 28) in a coordinated effort by the three Western European nations to add international pressure on Israel to soften its response to last year’s Hamas-led attack.
Israel condemned the diplomatic move, which will have no immediate impact on the war in Gaza, as quoted from AP site.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised address from Madrid that this is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly lashed out at Spain on X, saying that Sánchez’s government was being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes.
Ireland and Norway soon joined Spain in formalizing a decision they had jointly announced the previous week.
Bendera Palestina berkibar.
- Istimewa
The Palestinian flag was raised in Dublin outside Leinster House, the seat of Ireland’s parliament.
“I hope (this) sends the Palestinian people a message of hope that — in this their darkest hour — Ireland stands with them,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris told lawmakers in Ireland’s parliament after his Cabinet formally signed off on the decision.
“It is no longer enough just to condemn. It is no longer enough just to be repulsed. We must be on the right side of history," he added.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement that "for more than 30 years, Norway has been one of the strongest advocates for a Palestinian state. Today, when Norway officially recognizes Palestine as a state, is a milestone in the relationship between Norway and Palestine,"
While around 140 countries have recognized a Palestinian state – more than two-thirds of the United Nations – none of the major Western powers has done so.
Still, the adherence of three European countries to the group represents a victory for Palestinian efforts in the world of public opinion, and will likely put pressure on European Union heavyweights France and Germany to rethink their position.
Previously only seven members of the 27-nation EU officially recognized a Palestinian state. Five of them are former East bloc countries that announced recognition in 1988, as did Cyprus, before joining the European Union (EU). Sweden’s recognition came in 2014.
Relations between the EU and Israel have nosedived with the diplomatic recognitions by two EU members, and Madrid insisting on Monday that the EU should take measures against Israel for its continued deadly attacks in southern Gaza’s city of Rafah.
After Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said: “For the first time at an EU meeting, in a real way, I have seen a significant discussion on sanctions on Israel,"
Harris, the Irish leader, insisted that the EU should consider economic sanctions against Israel, saying: “Europe could be doing a hell of a lot more.”
bendera Palestina
- Brahim Guedich/Wikimedia
Norway, which isn’t an EU member but often aligns its foreign policy with the bloc, handed diplomatic papers to the Palestinian government over the weekend before its formal recognition.
At the same time, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell threw his weight behind the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, including leaders of the Hamas militant group.
The formal declaration and resulting diplomatic dispute come more than seven months into an assault waged by Israel following the October 7 Hamas-led attack in which militants stormed across the Gaza border into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.
Israel’s air and land attacks have killed 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.
The joint announcement by Spain, Ireland and Norway last week triggered an angry response from Israeli authorities, which summoned the countries’ ambassadors in Tel Aviv to the Foreign Ministry, where they were filmed while being shown videos of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and abductions.
