The State of Palestine is recognised by 143 countries around the world. Norway, Spain and Ireland will join that list.
Norway, Ireland and Spain have announced they will formally recognise Palestine as a state on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s announcement has prompted Israel to immediately recall its envoys to Ireland and Norway for “urgent consultations”.
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“Today, I am sending a sharp message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not go over this in silence,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. He threatened to also withdraw the Israeli ambassador from Spain.
In addition, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he will stop transferring tax funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Israel, which occupies the West Bank illegally under international law, is required to transfer taxes collected from the Palestinian territory to the PA, which governs it.
Norway, Spain and Ireland made their announcements as a growing number of nations are publicly considering the recognition of Palestine as a state. That is especially so in Europe, traditionally an outlier on the issue. Slovenia, Malta and Belgium are other nations on the continent that are discussing whether and when to recognise Palestinian statehood. At the moment, in addition to Norway, Ireland and Spain, nine other European countries recognise the state.
Countries that recognised Palestine in 2024
This month, 143 of the 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly voted in favour of Palestine joining the UN, something only states can do.
Most of the Middle East, Africa and Asia recognise Palestinian statehood. However, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and many Western European states do not.
The countries who have recognised Palestine this year are the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados.
Recognition from 2011 to 2023
In 2011, despite Palestine’s failure to join the UN after campaigning for full membership, UNESCO granted the Palestinians full membership in the UN cultural agency, leading the US to defund the body.
In 2012, the General Assembly voted in favour of changing Palestine’s status to “nonmember observer state”, and in 2015, the International Criminal Court recognised Palestine as a party.
