Spain, Norway and Ireland announced Wednesday that they would recognize an independent Palestinian state, dealing a diplomatic blow to Israel that highlights the country’s growing isolation on the world stage, more than seven months after its military offensive devastating in the Gaza Strip.
In closely coordinated announcements, the leaders of the three countries said Palestinian independence cannot wait for a negotiated peace deal with Israel’s right-wing government, which largely opposes a two-state solution, expanded settlements in the West Bank occupied by Israel and continues to bomb Gaza without overthrowing Hamas or repatriating all its hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also frustrated world leaders – and two members of his war cabinet – with his refusal to establish a post-war plan for governing Gaza, where health authorities say more than 35,000 people were killed.
Simon Harris, the Irish Prime Minister, linked his government’s decision to Ireland’s quest for independence from Britain. “From our own history, we know what this means: recognition is an act of great political and symbolic value,” he said at a press briefing.
The announcements from the three countries come just days after the attorney general of the International Criminal Court requested arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, suspected of war crimes. He also requested arrest warrants for three senior Hamas leaders.
Palestinian leaders in the West Bank welcomed the recognition by the three countries as an important symbolic gesture. Serious negotiations on a two-state solution have not taken place in more than a decade. And some observers argue that by failing to recognize a Palestinian state, the West has enabled a far-right Israeli agenda opposed to its existence.
“We believe this will help preserve the two-state solution and give Palestinians hope that they will have their own state alongside Israel in peace and security,” said Ziad Abu Amr, a senior Palestinian official. in the West Bank, in a press release. interview.
More than 140 countries have recognized Palestinian statehood. But most Western European countries and the United States have not done so, arguing that statehood can only be achieved through a negotiated agreement with Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu, who said the creation of a Palestinian state would pose a “existential danger» to Israel, denounced these measures on Wednesday, calling them a “reward for terrorism”. He said they “would not stop us from achieving a victory over Hamas.”
Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, said he had summoned the ambassadors of Spain, Norway and Ireland to “severely reprimand” them after their governments decided “to award a gold medal to Hamas terrorists.
In a report on social networksMr. Katz said he would show the ambassadors “a video of the brutal and cruel kidnapping of our daughters by Hamas terrorists, to highlight the distorted decision taken by their governments.”
In the video, which has not been independently verified by The New York Times, Palestinian fighters, some wearing Hamas headbands, can be seen tying the hands of five Israeli hostages who served as lookouts for Nahal Oz, a military base near the border with Gaza. At least two of the hostages’ faces are bloody. The militants repeatedly threaten the soldiers.
The families said they hoped the footage would pressure the Israeli government to restart apparently stalled ceasefire talks, which could pave the way for the release of hostages still held in Gaza .
“I’m asking you to please show this clip every day, open your shows with it – until someone wakes up, the nation wakes up and realizes it’s been abandoned there for 229 days,” said Eli Albag, whose daughter Liri can be seen in the video, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
Talks aimed at securing the release of more than 125 living and dead hostages have stalled since Israel began its assault on the southern city of Rafah in early May. Israeli forces operating in northern Gaza recently recovered the bodies of four Israelis kidnapped on October 7, heightening fears for the remaining prisoners.
In an interview Wednesday, Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian Prime Minister, said that by offering support to Palestinians who favor democracy and a sovereign Palestine alongside Israel, Norway hoped to break what he sees as ” a downward spiral, with militant groups.” like Hamas which sets the agenda on the Palestinian side” and the Israeli government “which establishes hundreds of thousands of settlers” on occupied lands.
Norway’s support for Palestinian statehood was of particular significance as it hosted the clandestine talks that led to the Oslo Accords, the 1993 peace framework that many hoped would resolve the israelo-Palestinian conflict.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration reiterated its view that the creation of a Palestinian state must come through negotiations with the Israelis.
“The president has been a strong supporter of a two-state solution throughout his career,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson. “He believes that a Palestinian state should be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties, not unilateral recognition. »
Acting at least partly in response to Norway, Spain and Ireland, Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, said Israel would stop transferring essential funding to the Palestinian Authority, which administers a part of the West Bank. A spokesperson for his office criticized the authority’s leaders for campaigning for Palestinian recognition in Europe.
“They are acting against Israel legally, diplomatically and for unilateral recognition,” said spokesman Eytan Fuld. “When they act against the State of Israel, there must be a response. »
The authority’s finances were already in disarray due to tighter Israeli restrictions on its funding and a depressed West Bank economy resulting from the Gaza war. This month, the authority has only managed to pay 50 percent salaries of tens of thousands of civil servants.
Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, called Mr. Smotrich’s decision to withhold funds for the Palestinian Authority “wrong on a strategic basis.”
“This undermines the pursuit of security and prosperity for the Palestinian people, which is in Israel’s interests,” he said. “And I think it’s wrong to deny funds that provide basic goods and services to innocent people.”
Mohammad Mustafa, the Palestinian Authority’s new prime minister, said the dire budget situation was contributing to a “very serious moment” in the West Bank, where more than 500 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, many in clashes with Israeli forces. , according to the authority’s Ministry of Health.
“We are going through an extremely difficult time trying to provide services to our people on the ground, and they are already subject to military action,” Mr. Mustafa said in a video distributed by his office. “And on top of that, we can’t pay them to do basic things. It’s the war.”
Israeli forces on Wednesday expanded their military raid to Jenin in the West Bank, where Palestinian officials said at least 11 people, including two high school students, a doctor and a teacher, had been killed in recent days. Israeli officials said the soldiers were carrying out counterterrorism operations.
Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, said he agreed with Mr Netanyahu that the decisions of Spain, Norway and Ireland were “shameful”. But he also called it an “unprecedented diplomatic failure” for Israel, an implicit rebuke of Mr. Netanyahu.
Maya Sion-Tzidkiyahu, an expert on Israeli-European relations at Mitvim, an Israeli foreign policy research group, said the announcements reflected the extent of global support Israel has lost since the October 7 attacks carried out by the Hamas, which killed 1,200 people in Israel and led to the kidnapping of more than 200 others, according to Israeli authorities.
“This proves to us once again, as Israelis, how increasingly isolated we are,” she said.
Spain, Ireland and Norway have all been vocal critics of Israel’s continuation of the war and have always been staunch supporters of the Palestinians. As a result, their announcements may not put much pressure on Israel, Ms. Sion-Tzidkiyahu said. If Germany or France, which is more closely allied with Israel, were to join a Palestinian state, it would carry more weight, she said.
“For now we can live with it, because it doesn’t make any real sense,” Ms. Sion-Tzidkiyahu said. “It has no effect on the ground.”
The report was provided by Steven Erlanger, Henrik Pryser Libell, Adam Rasgon, Victoria Kim, Raja Abdulrahim, Megan Specia And Michael D. Shearing.
