Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday that the country’s council of ministers would recognize an independent Palestinian state on Tuesday May 28.
“Next Tuesday, May 28, Spain’s cabinet will approve the recognition of the Palestinian state,” Sanchez said in the Spanish parliament, adding that his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the two state solution in “danger” with his policy of “pain and destruction” in the Gaza Strip.
Equally, Norway’s prime minister says Norway is formally recognizing Palestine as a state. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Wednesday, “There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition.” Gahr Støre said the Scandinavian country will recognize a Palestinian state as of May 28.
Ireland also plans to recognize the Palestinian state based on its 1967 borders, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said on Wednesday. “When we recognize a state, we don’t recognize the government of the day, we recognize the state in terms of a permanent population of people in terms of defined borders, and in this case it’s the 1967 borders,” Martin told RTE radio.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar praised the decision by Ireland, Norway, and Spain on Wednesday to recognize a Palestinian state and called on other countries to do the same.
Jordan hailed a coordinated move by Ireland, Norway, and Spain on Wednesday to recognize the State of Palestine as an “important and essential step towards Palestinian statehood”.
“We welcome the decisions taken by friendly European countries today to recognize a Palestinian state,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart in Amman. “We value this decision and consider it an important and essential step towards a two-state solution that embodies an independent, sovereign Palestinian state along the July 1967 borders.”
France said on Wednesday that it was not a “taboo” to recognize a Palestinian state, but Paris considers that now is not the right moment for it do so.
“Our position is clear: the recognition of a Palestinian state is not a taboo for France,” Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné wrote in a statement to AFP.
“France does not consider that the conditions have been present to date for this decision to have a real impact in this process.”
Several European Union countries have in the past weeks indicated that they plan to make the recognition, arguing a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the region.
Israel recalls envoys to Ireland and Norway
Israel reacted with fury after three European countries said Wednesday they would recognize a Palestinian state, more than seven months into the devastating Gaza war.
Ireland, Norway and Spain said they would formally recognize the State of Palestine on May 28, drawing praise from many countries in the Arab and Muslim world.
Israel charged that the move amounts to “rewarding terrorism” after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its October 7 attack which sparked the Gaza war.
Israel said immediately that it was recalling its envoys to Dublin, Oslo, and Madrid for “urgent consultations” and also summoned the three European ambassadors for a rebuke. Foreign Minister Israel Katz charged that “the twisted step of these countries is an injustice to the memory of the 7/10 victims”. “They decided to award a gold medal to the murderers and rapists of Hamas.”
