It was a festive mood on May 22, 2024 when Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide announced that Norway should recognize Palestine.
“In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands of dead and injured, we must keep alive the only thing that can give a safe home for both Israelis and Palestinians: Two states that can live in peace with each other,” Støre said at the press conference.
Barth Eide followed up with an expectation that more European countries would follow after the next few weeks. Spain and Ireland renowned Palestine at the same time as Norway.
– In the weeks ahead, we will continue the dialogue with other key countries that are also considering recognizing Palestine. We will work along several tracks to make the political effect of this recognition as much as possible, Barth Eide said.
One year later it turns out that no Other central countries have followed Norway in the recognition. There were rumors that the UK and France considered recognition, but so far nothing has happened.
Slovenia and Armenia, which can hardly be considered “central countries”, recognized Palestine shortly after, but since then no European countries have done the same.
Right: – not led to anything
Ine Eriksen Søreide is former Foreign Minister and now chairs the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the Storting. She supports wholeheartedly to recognize Palestine, but says that the time Norway did it was wrong.
– The Storting and all previous governments have always assumed that recognition is something used when it can be positively affected to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is one of the strongest diplomatic instruments we have, says Eriksen Søreide, and continues:
– It left the government without it led to anything.
In November 2023 came the decision in the Storting, which allowed the government to recognize Palestine in May the following year:
“The Storting asks the government to be prepared to recognize Palestine as a separate state at a time when recognition can have a positive impact on a peace process and without reservation for a final peace agreement.”
Critical: Ine Eriksen Søreide (H) believes that one year after Norway’s recognition of Palestine, can conclude that the timing was wrong.
Photo: Thomas Paust (Nettavisen).
When asked by the online newspaper about the recognition contributed to “a positive impact on the peace process”, Ine Eriksen Søreide’s answer is no.
– A real two -state solution is farther away than in a very long time – maybe ever. That does not mean that we will give up, for the two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians live side by side within internationally recognized boundaries is the only solution. But Palestine has unfortunately not become a state because of the realities on the ground and that there is no agreement.
– The fact that no central European countries proved to follow Norway in the recognition also means that it was not effective. Put another way: If leading countries in Europe had actually recognized at the same time as Norway, it could have contributed to a new dynamic and then the time would probably be right, says Eriksen Søreide.
– Was the Storting’s decision followed up by the government?
– It will probably be the government, it is Ine Eriksen Søreide is content to say.
– Norway is not given help
Israel broke the diplomatic relationships with Norway immediately after the recognition of Palestine. The mainstay of the Norwegian Middle East diplomacy has since before the Oslo process in the 90s been that Norway has been one of the few players who talk well with both sides.
That time is over now, Ine Eriksen Søreide states:
– I find that Israel no longer wants to talk to Norway. We lose an important intake in the region and much of Norwegian activity in the West Bank is reduced or gone.
The bitter – the irony is that the decision that would lead to a better situation for the Palestinians has meant that we are in poorer able to help the Palestinians, according to the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
– A lot of the help we have given the Palestinians have been conditional on talking to both sides in the conflict.
The war started with Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Just under 1200 were killed and took 251 hostages. 58 is still held trapped by Hamas. The figure includes 34 hostages that the Israeli army says is dead.
Israel aims to annihilate Hamas and regain all the hostages.
In recent weeks, conditions at Gaza have become ever worse for the civilian population. On Monday this week, Israel ordered forced evacuation of Khan Younis, which is Gaza’s second largest city, and which had over 200,000 inhabitants before the war. Night to date, 45 people were killed, including a baby. The figures are from the government -controlled news agency Wafa.
– The situation at Gaza is completely unsustainable. Israel has the right to defend itself against the Hamas terror attack, and get all the hostages released without conditions. But Israel violates international law by preventing emergency aid from entering Gaza, by not acting proportionately, and by not distinguishing military and civilian goals. The civilian disorders are enormous, says Ine Eriksen Søreide.
– How harmful do you think the recognition has been?
– Of course, it is difficult to say anything for sure about it, but a lot has gone dramatically in the last year – unfortunately without any of what the government stated as a justification for recognizing has happened. As the situation is now, it is nevertheless important to emphasize that in reality only the United States can put pressure on Israel.
– We must continue to work for a two -state solution, but the tool of recognizing is now used up. Our main criticism has always been that the time of recognition was wrong, not that recognition itself was wrong.
Barth Eide: – strained relationship with Israel
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide is not surprising to a completely different opinion than his challenger from the Right.
– I deeply disagree with Ine Eriksen Søreide. It was quite right that we recognized when we did, together with Spain and Ireland, says Espen Barth Eide on the phone to Nettavisen.
Barth Eide is visiting the EU headquarters in Brussels where he says several countries are now discussing following Norway.
– France is now considering recognizing and then more countries can follow suit, says Barth Eide.
SAFE: Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (both Ap) at the press conference last year where they announced the recognition of Palestine. Barth Eide is still confident that they were doing right.
Photo: Erik Flaaris Johansen (NTB)
He also thinks Ine Eriksen Søreide and Right have changed their minds since last year.
– The Right said nothing but that they agreed, but uncertain at the time – it could be both right and not.
– What positive things have come out of the recognition?
– It has given us a lot of foreign policy capital in both this case and others. It was also the opportunity that we could establish the global alliance for two-state solution with Saudi Arabia in the front, which is the broadest forum to revitalize the political process.
-Most countries in the world have recognized Palestine with 149 of 193 UN countries that agree with Norway. We are by no means alone. We think it was right to be early and get an updated Norwegian role and it had quite limited costs. Of course, we got a strained relationship with Israel, but we knew we were going to happen.
– But it is by no means that we do not have contact with Israel, we have on several levels. But we deeply disagree with the policy they lead and they disagree with us today. They disagree with large parts of the world, last to the UK, Canada and France because they were clear in their criticism of Israel, says Barth Eide before he has to rush into a new meeting in Brussels.
