Ireland, Norway and Spain recognize the Palestinian state

There is not only the formal start of diplomatic relations behind the recognition of the Palestinian state announced by Spain, Ireland and Norway. They will do so on May 28 as explained by the Norwegian Prime Minister Jon Gahr Store, the Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris and the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The value is highly symbolic, but how much political weight it has remains to be established. They are not the first states to recognize Palestine, but they are not the ones whose recognition would matter the most.

Already in March the governments of Spain and Ireland, which are part of the EU, but also of Malta and Slovenia, had reiterated, in a joint statement, the need for recognition of the State of Palestine “for peace and security” in the region . The path is to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the creation of two states. This is what Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre says: «There will be no peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution. There cannot be a two-state solution without a Palestinian state. In other words, a Palestinian state is a prerequisite for achieving peace in the Middle East.” Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez explained that «this recognition is not against Israel, it is not against the Jews and it is not in favor of Hamas. This recognition is not against anyone, it is in favor of peace and coexistence.”

Israel recalled ambassadors from Ireland and Norway. “Israel will not remain silent in the face of those who undermine its sovereignty and endanger its security,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X. “This decision sends a message to the Palestinians and the world: terrorism pays.” On the other hand, the leader of the Palestinian Authority Abu Mazen said that the decision will establish “the right of his people to self-determination”. Hamas calls for “the creation of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

These countries are not the first to recognize the Palestinian state and this is precisely what leads one to think that the change is not epochal. Almost 70%, over 140, of the member states of the United Nations already do so, especially African, Latin American and Eastern European countries.. The first country to recognize the State of Palestine was Algeria, in 1988, at the time of the proclamation made by Yasser Arafat, followed shortly after by the Arab nations, China, India and Turkey. Only nine EU-27 countries recognize Palestine and only Sweden did so when it was already a member of the EU. The others are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. For the UN, since 2012, Palestine has been a non-member observer state, a position voted for by 138 countries including Italy with 41 abstentions and 9 against, including Israel and the USA who also vetoed, in the Security Council , to recognition of the Palestinian state.

The G7 countries do not recognize Palestine therefore also Italy together with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and Japan. However, most continue to see the creation of two states for peace in the Middle East as the only possible solution.