On Thursday, Israel withdrew the accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats serving as representatives to the Palestinian Authority, eliciting a strong reaction from Norway's foreign minister, who deemed it "an extreme act". Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz attributed the move to what he called Norway's anti-Israeli behavior, including its acknowledgment of a Palestinian state.
Katz stated in a release that "Norway pursues a one-sided policy on the Palestinian issue, and will thus be excluded from the Palestinian issue." Norway holds the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government responsible for this diplomatic conflict and is contemplating its reaction to the situation, according to Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide.
Eide remarked, "This is an extreme act that primarily impacts our capacity to aid the Palestinian population... Today's decision will have repercussions for our relationship with the Netanyahu government." Norway played a pivotal role in brokering the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, aimed at fostering peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Despite the peace process remaining unfulfilled, the Nordic nation still leads the international donor group to the Palestinians.
Norway had long advocated that a two-state solution could only be realized through dialogue rather than unilateral actions but eventually lost faith in this approach. Alongside Spain and Ireland, Norway officially recognized a Palestinian state in May, hoping it would expedite efforts to establish a ceasefire in Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli government has repeatedly criticized this decision, asserting that it emboldened the militant group responsible for the lethal October 7 attack on Israel that ignited the war in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
