From WaPo: Spain, Ireland, and Norway Recognize Palestinian State, Sort Of
Photo by Brahim Guedich, CC BY-SA 4.0
In a move of diplomatic symbolism, Spain, Ireland, and Norway announced their respective governments would recognize a Palestinian state while calling for the ever-elusive two-state solution.
The Spanish, Irish and Norwegian governments announced Wednesday they would recognize a Palestinian state, saying there would be no peace in the Middle East without it. Israel denounced the move as giving aid to its enemy Hamas.
In their announcements, the leaders of the three countries emphasized that peace could only come through a two-state solution, so a Palestinian state needed to exist. The United States has said recognition of such a state is premature.
“In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in peace and security,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said.
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered the immediate recall of the Israeli ambassadors to Spain, Ireland and Norway. “I am sending a clear message today: Israel will not be complacent against those who undermine its sovereignty and endanger its security.”
The diplomatic moves are purely symbolic — but not without some power.
Ireland said that it hopes its recognition of a Palestinian state — which does not exist — will press Israel, the Palestinians and the international community toward a two-state solution, one that includes the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state drawn on the borders as they were in 1967, with Jerusalem as a shared capital.
That long-imagined dream — the goal of generations of U.S. diplomats — has never seemed so far away.
The war is still raging in Gaza, with daily assaults by Israeli forces in the southern city of Rafah. Meanwhile, Hamas militants have shown signs of reorganizing in the north of Gaza and are still firing the occasional rocket into Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed back against the U.S. idea that the Palestinian Authority, which governs part of the West Bank, would play any role in governing postwar Gaza — or any kind of solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday night, the Israeli Foreign Ministry released a statement and video on social media warning Ireland that “Recognizing a Palestinian state will lead to more terrorism, instability in the region and jeopardize any prospects for peace.”
