Middle East Crisis: Spain, Norway and Ireland Recognize a Palestinian State, a Blow to Israel

The moves will likely have little immediate impact on conditions for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank or in Gaza, where health authorities say that more than 35,000 people have been killed in over seven months of Israeli bombardment and ground combat. But the view in a growing number of capitals that Palestinian statehood cannot wait for a permanent peace deal with Israel amounted to a powerful signal of dwindling international patience with Israel’s policies.

“Palestinians have a fundamental, independent right to an independent state,” Jonas Gahr Store, the prime minister of Norway, said at a news conference in Oslo announcing the decision, which will go into effect on Tuesday.

Spain’s decision will take effect the same day, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, adding that Spain had been forced to act because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel did not have a plan for long-term peace with the Palestinians.

“The two-state solution is in danger,” Mr. Sanchez said in remarks to Parliament, referring to a proposed framework for establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. “It’s time to move from words to action — to tell millions of innocent Palestinians who are suffering that we are with them, that there is hope,” he added.

Prime Minister Simon Harris of Ireland said at a news conference that he was confident that other countries would join them in recognizing Palestinian statehood in the coming weeks.

More than 140 countries and the Holy See have recognized a Palestinian state, but most Western European countries and the United States have not. They say recognition should be achieved through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, and that while they support a two-state solution, unilateral measures by third parties will not advance that goal.

Israel strongly opposes international attempts to recognize a Palestinian state and maintains that Israel needs to negotiate directly with Palestinian leaders on a permanent solution. Mr. Netanyahu has said that establishing a Palestinian state would be an “existential danger” to Israel.

On Wednesday, in response to the announcements, Israel recalled its ambassadors from Spain, Norway and Ireland for consultations.

“Today’s decision sends a message to the Palestinians and the world: Terrorism pays,” said Israel Katz, the Israeli foreign minister, who warned of unspecified “severe consequences.”

Members of the Palestinian leadership based in the West Bank welcomed the European countries’ decisions. “We believe it will help preserve the two-state solution and give Palestinians hope that they will have their own state side-by-side with Israel in peace and security,” Ziad Abu Amr, a senior Palestinian official, said in an interview.

Hamas, which led the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that touched off the war in Gaza, also praised the announcements, calling them “an important step on the path of affirming our right to our land.”

For many nations, Israel’s arguments against recognition are less persuasive than they have been in the past: Most of Israel’s right-wing government opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, and serious negotiations on a two-state solution haven’t been held for over a decade.

Some observers argue that by not recognizing a Palestinian state, the West has enabled a far-right Israeli agenda opposed to its existence. It “gives leverage to Israel to keep encroaching on the land and resources and the people of the other state,” Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian envoy to Britain, said in a recent interview.

Wednesday’s announcements were the latest blow to Israel on the international stage, and came days after the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and Israel’s defense minister, along with leaders of Hamas, on war crimes charges stemming from the Oct. 7 attacks and the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Spain, Ireland and Norway have all strongly criticized Israel’s conduct of the war and have historically been strong supporters of the Palestinians. All three continued to provide funding for UNRWA, the main U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees, after Israel accused about a dozen of its employees of being involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.

In Ireland, support for Palestinians has deep roots in what many see as a shared history of British colonialism. Spain has historically been close to the Arab world, and Mr. Sanchez has been a leading voice in Europe for the protection of the rights of the Palestinians.

Norway has historically cast itself as a mediator in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. In 1993, it hosted the clandestine meetings that led to the Oslo Accords, the framework for peace that came close to resolving the conflict, but ultimately failed.

Aaron Boxerman, Henrik Pryser Libell, Adam Rasgon and Victoria Kim contributed reporting.