Follow us on social

More European countries recognize Palestine

More European countries recognize Palestine

The moves by Ireland, Norway, and Spain point to a Europe-wide frustration with futility of the current process

Middle East

The EU may be notoriously divided when it comes to the Middle East, but at times those divisions are a blessing. For example, this week Ireland, Spain and non-EU Norway took a step, in a coordinated fashion, of recognizing Palestinian statehood. In the absence of a unified EU position on the matter, moving forward on the level of the individual member states is, perhaps, the only viable way to advance towards the issue. However, beyond the symbolism, it’s unclear what impact the move will have.

The first EU member state to recognize Palestine was Sweden in 2014. Cyprus, Malta, and a few Central European nations recognized Palestine prior to joining the EU.

In a statement on May 22 explaining the move, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said that “there can be no peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition.” He also made it clear that “the terror was committed by Hamas and militant groups who are not supporters of a two-state solution.” His Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez announced the his country’s Council of Ministers will recognize Palestine on May 28, “echoing the will of the majority of the Spanish people”.

Israel, predictably, reacted harshly by recalling ambassadors from Ireland and Norway and threatening to do the same with Spain if it moved ahead with a formal recognition in few days. Foreign Minister Israel Katz lashed out at the European trio by saying that their move sends a message that “terrorism pays” and “rewards Hamas and Iran” in the light of Hamas’ gruesome attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

By contrast, the move was widely welcomed in the Middle East, with such close partners of the EU as Turkey , Qatar and Jordan, as well as, obviously, Palestinian officials in the West Bank, issuing strongly supportive statements. Of particular note is the statement by Saudi Arabia, in which the Kingdom calls on more countries to “swiftly take the same stance, which would contribute to finding a reliable and irreversible path to achieve a just and lasting peace that fulfills the rights of the Palestinian people.” Riyadh has used another occasion to say that a credible path to a Palestinian statehood is not negotiable even as it pursues a normalization deal with Israel, under the U.S. auspices.

Not all of the EU members are yet on board, though. Hugh Lovatt from the European Center for Foreign Relations says countries like France, Germany, Italy and non-EU United Kingdom are unlikely to follow suit because they say such a move would undermine the Oslo process. Lovatt, however, believes, that “conditioning the Palestinian right to self-determination on a fatally flawed political process has always been the wrong approach – but it is even more so today in the absence of any realistic prospect for successful negotiations.”

The recognition of Palestine by Ireland, Norway, and Spain comes just few days after the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against leaders of Israel and Hamas. European reactions, again, reveal the familiar pattern of divisions along the predictable lines: Belgium, Slovenia, Ireland and Spain, all strong supporters of the two-state solution, pledged full support for the Court and emphasized that those responsible for the crimes committed in Israel and Palestine from at least October 7, 2023 must be prosecuted. The EU high representative for foreign policy Josep Borrell, along the same lines, stated that “all states that have ratified the ICC statutes are bound to execute the Court’s decisions.” Notably, all EU members are parties to the Rome Statute that established the ICC.

At the opposite side of the spectrum are the usual suspects — Israel’s closest allies in the EU. With varying degrees of vehemence, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Austria denounced the fact that the ICC issued an arrest warrant for representatives of a democracy like Israel and a terrorist organization like Hamas.

Somewhere in the middle stand the EU heavyweights: Germany criticized the “incorrect implication of equivalence” between Israel and Hamas in the ICC application, while expressing its general support for the Court. France equally rejected any equivalence but stressed “respect for the independence of the international justice.”

While the unilateral recognition of the Palestinian statehood is largely a symbolic move, coupled with the ICC action, backed by a number of Israel’s allies in the EU, it signals a serious erosion of Israel’s standing in the West. More countries may choose to follow suit in the near future — Belgium and Slovenia being tipped as the prime candidates. Even French President Emmanuel Macron no longer discards such a step.

Such moves may clash with the United States, but they reveal the growing frustration in Europe about the futility of sticking to the formula of a negotiated solution that seems increasingly out of reach given the shift in Israel towards more intransigent positions.

At the same time, European countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway and possibly more to follow no longer wish to pay a diplomatic price in their relations with the Arab and Muslim world and, in fact, much of the Global South, by refusing to support international law and human rights. Judging by the reactions from the Middle East (except Israel) their recognition of Palestine was a correct bet.


PA via Reuters The three Irish Government leaders (left to right) Minister Eamon Ryan, Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tanaiste Micheal Martin speaking to the media during a press conference outside the Government Buildings, Dublin, as the Republic of Ireland recognised the state of Palestine. Picture date: Wednesday May 22, 2024.

Middle East
Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Ira
Top photo credit: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran speaking at an event hosted by the Center for Political Thought & Leadership at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Israeli-fueled fantasy to bring back Shah has absolutely no juice

Middle East

The Middle East is a region where history rarely repeats itself exactly, but often rhymes in ways that are both tragic and absurd.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the current Israeli campaign against Iran. A campaign that, beneath its stated aims of dismantling Iran's nuclear and defense capabilities, harbors a deeper, more outlandish ambition: the hope that toppling the regime could install a friendly government under Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last Shah. Perhaps even paving the way for a monarchical restoration.

This is not a policy officially declared in Jerusalem or Washington, but it lingers in the background of Israel’s actions and its overt calls for Iranians to “stand up” to the Islamic Republic. In April 2023, Pahlavi was hosted in Israel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.

During the carefully choreographed visit, he prayed at the Western Wall, while avoiding the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount just above and made no effort to meet with Palestinian leaders. An analysis from the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs described the trip as a message that Israel recognizes Pahlavi as "the main leader of the Iranian opposition."

Figures like Gila Gamliel, a former minister of intelligence in the Israeli government, have openly called for regime change, declaring last year that a "window of opportunity has opened to overthrow the regime."

What might have been dismissed as a diplomatic gambit has, in the context of the current air war, been elevated into a strategic bet that military pressure can create the conditions for a political outcome of Israel's choosing.

The irony is hard to overstate. It was foreign intervention that set the stage for the current enmity. In 1953, a CIA/MI6 coup overthrew Mohammad Mossadegh, Iran’s last democratically elected leader. While the plot was triggered by his nationalization of the British-controlled Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the United States joined out of Cold War paranoia, fearing the crisis would allow Iran's powerful communist party to seize power and align the country with the Soviet Union.

keep readingShow less
Emmanuel Macron,  Keir Starmer, Friedrich Merz
Top image credit: TIRANA, ALBANIA - MAY 16: France's President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz speak during a Ukraine security meeting at the 6th European Political Community summit on May 16, 2025 at Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, Albania. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS

The EU's pathetic response to Trump's Iran attack

Middle East

The European Union’s response to the U.S. strikes on Iran Saturday has exposed more than just hypocrisy — it has revealed a vassalization so profound that the European capitals now willingly undermine both international law and their own strategic interests.

The statement by the E3, signed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron, following similar statements by the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and its high representative for foreign affairs Kaja Kallas, perfectly encapsulates this surrender.

keep readingShow less
iran war tehran
Top photo credit:A man reads a newspaper at a newsstand, amid the Israel-Iran conflict, in Tehran, Iran, June 22, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Israel and US have chosen war, unleashing fresh economic pain

Middle East

The United States has finally entered Israel’s escalating war against Iran, launching targeted strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities to obliterate Tehran’s nuclear threat, a goal once more effectively achieved through the 2015 Iran deal.

President Trump warned Iran that there will be peace or a tragedy far greater than what Iran has witnessed in recent days, signaling that there were “other targets” if Iran wished to escalate.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.