Given Norway’s past role as the facilitator of the covert conversations with the Palestinians, the US declared the Israeli effort to be counterproductive and the EU denounced it.
Removing Norway’s envoys to the Palestinian Authority, Israel said on Thursday. It accused Oslo of “anti-Israel behavior” during the Gaza conflict and issued a formal protest.
Given Norway’s past as the facilitator of the covert discussions with the Palestinians that resulted in the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, the European Union denounced the Israeli action, while the US declared it to be ineffective.
“Ordered the termination of any representation on behalf of the Norwegian embassy in Israel vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority,” stated Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz. The Palestinian Authority has limited authority in Israeli-occupied West Bank cities.
In a statement, Katz also mentioned Norway’s recent declaration of a Palestinian state and its support of an ongoing International Criminal Court prosecution that accuses Israeli officials of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. “There is a price for anti-Israel behaviour,” Katz said.
Norway said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right administration was taking a “extreme” stance.
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide stated in a statement, “This is an extreme action that first and foremost affects our ability to help the Palestinian population”.
“Today’s decision will have consequences for our relationship with the Netanyahu government,” he stated.
Later, Barth Eide requested to hear a formal objection from Israeli charge d’affaires Yana Kotlyar-Gal.
“A short while ago, I summoned Israel’s representative to Norway and met her at the foreign ministry to protest against this decision,” the minister stated to reporters.
– ‘Baseless pretexts’ –
Israel is being accused by the Palestinian Authority of using “baseless pretexts” to exert pressure on any administration that attempts to stop “violations against our people”.
A statement issued by the foreign ministry voiced “condemnation and strong disapproval of the decision by the (Israeli) occupation authorities to restrict the work of Norwegian diplomats operating in the occupied State of Palestine, including Jerusalem” .
It further voiced “rejection and disapproval of Israel’s attempts to create baseless pretexts to pressure countries and international institutions that support our people and contribute to diplomatic and legal pressure on the occupying power to halt its crimes and violations against our people” .
In a statement, EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell called the move “unwarranted” and “strongly” denounced it.
He stated that it “contradicts the spirit of Oslo Accords and disproportionately disrupts the normal relations and cooperation with the Palestinian Authority” .
A spokesman for the US State Department Matthew Miller criticized the Israeli action as well.
“We don’t think steps to prevent them from playing that role are particularly helpful,” he said.
Norway has been accused by the Israeli foreign ministry of “one-sided policies and statements” since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, which ignited the Gaza conflict.
As a “punitive” action for Madrid’s support of a Palestinian state, Israel ordered in May that Spain’s consulate in Jerusalem cease providing consular services to Palestinians from the occupied West Bank as of June 1, Katz said at the time.
Israel’s government rejects Spain, Ireland, and Norway’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, which they announced earlier.
The three nations’ actions increased the number of UN members that recognize a Palestinian state to 146.
The first Oslo Accord, which was signed in Washington in 1993, was the result of covert negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians held in the Norwegian capital.
The accords, which created a restricted level of Palestinian self-rule, were meant to be a stopgap solution before Palestinian independence, but negotiations stalled.
International officials have expressed concern that the survival of a Palestinian state is in jeopardy due to the growth of Israeli settlements, which are prohibited under international law.
