Ireland, Spain & Norway recognise Palestinian state; Israel recalls envoys

DUBLIN/OSLO/MADRID, May 22

Ireland, Spain and Norway announced on Wednesday that they would recognise a Palestinian state on May 28 and hoped other Western countries would follow suit, prompting an angry response from Israel which recalled its ambassadors from the three capitals.

No unilateral recognition: Biden

• US President Joe Biden believes a Palestinian state should be achieved through negotiations, not unilateral recognition, the White House said on Wednesday after Ireland, Spain and Norway said they would recognise a Palestinian state this month.
• “The President is a strong supporter of a two-state solution… he believes a Palestinian state should be realised through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition,” a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said

All three countries painted the decision as a move aimed at accelerating efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

“We hope that our recognition and our reasons contribute to other western countries following this path, because the more we are, the more strength we will have to impose a ceasefire, to achieve the release of the hostages held by Hamas, to relaunch the political process that can lead to a peace agreement,” Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told parliament.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said the only possible political solution between Israelis and Palestinians was “two states living side by side in peace and security”.

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said he did not expect the recognition to stop the war in Gaza, but it was “a key component” for an Arab-led peace initiative.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris told a Dublin news conference that Ireland remained unequivocal in recognising Israel’s right to exist “securely and in peace with its neighbours”, and called for all hostages in Gaza to be freed. The decision infuriated Israel, which says recognising a Palestinian state amounts to rewarding Hamas militants for the Oct. 7 attack that precipitated the Gaza war.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the decision would carry “severe consequences”, and ordered the immediate return of the Israeli ambassadors from the three countries 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 decision was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self rule in the Israeli occupied West Bank, and by Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since driving the PA out of the enclave in 2007. — Reuters