Israel recalls ambassadors, as Spain, Ireland and Norway announce they will formally recognize the Palestinian state this month.
The leaders of Ireland, Spain and Norway announced their countries would formally recognize Palestinian statehood in the coming days, with other member states in the European Union expected to follow their lead soon.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he would recall the country’s ambassadors from the three countries for consultations.
Ireland has long supported the Palestinian cause on the global stage, and political leaders there have been particularly vocal since the start of the current conflict in Gaza.
Simon Harris, the Irish prime minister, or taoiseach, said that Wednesday was “an historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine,” and said he was “confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks.”
In Norway, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre insisted that without the recognition of Palestinian statehood, “there cannot be peace in the Middle East.”
It’s been more than 30 years since a major peace agreement — theoretically paving the way for the Israeli and the Palestinians to live side by side in two separate states — was signed in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, in 1993.
Since then, Støre said in a press conference Wednesday morning, “the Palestinians have taken important steps towards a two-state solution.” Støre also said the Hamas attacks on October 7th in Israel had not been carried out by supporters of that two-state solution, but that “Palestine has a fundamental right to an independent state.
