Irish, Spanish, Norwegian envoys summoned to Israeli Foreign Ministry Over recognition of Palestine

The ambassadors of Ireland, Spain and Norway to Israel have been summoned to the Jewish state’s Foreign Ministry after their countries decided to recognize Palestine as a state, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.

The top Israeli diplomat said that he summoned the three ambassadors for "severe reprimands." "History will remember that Spain, Norway, and Ireland decided to award a gold medal to Hamas murderers and rapists," Katz said, TASS reports.

He added that they will be shown video footage of the abduction of Israeli female soldiers by militants from radical Palestinian movement Hamas on October 7, 2023. The diplomat said that the video will "underscore to them what a twisted decision their governments made" in Israel’s opinion.

Earlier, Katz said that he had recalled Israeli ambassadors from Dublin, Oslo and Madrid for consultations. This happened after the three countries announced their decision to recognize Palestine as a state.

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said in late April that several European Union countries would recognize the Palestinian state before the end of May. The State of Palestine is currently recognized as a sovereign country by 143 of the 193 United Nations member states, including Russia. As for EU nations, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden have already recognized the Palestinian state.