It was the second blow to Israel's international reputation this week after the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said he would seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defence minister. The International Court of Justice is also considering allegations of genocide that Israel has strenuously denied. Norway, Ireland and Spain have announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state. The CBC posted an Associated Press article about the recognition announcement.
The announcements are unlikely to have any impact on the ground. Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers it part of its capital, and in the occupied West Bank it has built scores of Jewish settlements that are now home to over 500,000 Israelis.
The settlers have Israeli citizenship, while the three million Palestinians in the West Bank live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule. In Gaza, the war is still raging, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain open-ended security control of the territory even after any defeat of Hamas. (Norway, Ireland and Spain to Recognize a Palestinian State, n.d.)
The move announced on May 23, 2024, could put more pressure on continental heavyweights France and Germany to reconsider their position. The United States and Britain, among others, have backed the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel as a solution to the Middle East's most intractable conflict. They insist, however, that Palestinian independence should come as part of a negotiated settlement.
"The president is a strong supporter of a two-state solution and has been throughout his career," a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said. "He believes a Palestinian state should be realized through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition."
In Ottawa, a non-binding motion concerning Palestinian statehood introduced by the NDP was carried 204 to 117 in March. It passed after a Liberal government amendment stipulating that Canada will "work with international partners" to "pursue the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East," and work "towards the establishment of the State of Palestine as part of a negotiated two-state solution." (Norway, Ireland and Spain to Recognize a Palestinian State, n.d.)
Peter Beaumont in London and Sam Jones in Madrid ask the question in the Guardian: “How significant is Spain, Norway and Ireland’s recognition of Palestinian state?” Recognitions point to erosion of US ‘ownership’ of Israel-Palestine peace process and open a route towards statehood.
Sweden, Norway, Ireland and Spain have long been seen as sympathetic to the Palestinians. The UK has also indicated it could consider recognising Palestine amid a deeper frustration over the long refusal of Israel – not least during the Netanyahu era – to advance towards a two-state solution, even as Israel has continued appropriating Palestinian land for settlement.
As Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations says, it also opens a meaningful route towards statehood. “Recognition is a tangible step towards a viable political track leading to Palestinian self-determination.
“This is a pre-requisite for securing Arab engagement in support of a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza. As part of their ‘Arab vision’ plan to implement a two-state solution, states such as Saudi Arabia have called for US and European recognition of Palestine.”
A cliche in Israel politics for more than a decade – and coined by the former prime minister Ehud Barak – is that Israel risks a diplomatic tsunami because of its policies. In recent weeks that tsunami has begun crashing down on Netanyahu. The recognition falls hard on the heels of Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, being told that warrants are being sought against them for war crimes by the prosecutor at the international criminal court. Israel is being investigated at South Africa’s behest for alleged genocide at the international court of justice too.
While there remains a profound disconnect in Israeli society over the international distaste for its right/far-right government and the way it has been conducting its campaign in Gaza, Israelis are also aware that their country is increasingly being treated as a pariah and becoming ever more diplomatically isolated. That has, in part, driven the increasing and the suddenly more visible fractures within Netanyahu’s own cabinet, raising serious questions over how long his government can survive. (Beaumont & Jones, n.d.)
Criticism of the decisions made by the Netanyahu government in the war with Hamas continues to mount. This round of loss of agreement with allies may remind the Israeli population of the three strikes against Netanyahu back in November 2023.
References
Beaumont, P., & Jones, S. (n.d.). How significant is Spain, Norway and Ireland’s recognition of Palestinian state? the Guardian. Retrieved May 23, 2024, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/22/significant-spain-norway-ireland-recognition-state-palestine
Norway, Ireland and Spain to recognize a Palestinian state. (n.d.). CBC News. Retrieved May 23, 2024, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/palestinian-state-ireland-norway-spain-1.7210856
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