Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday the diplomatic status of Norwegian envoys to the Palestinian Authority would be revoked over Oslo’s “anti-Israel behaviour” since the Gaza war began in October.
Norway has long been a facilitator in the Middle East peace process, particularly leading to the 1993 Oslo Accords, and it swifty reacted to Katz’s announcement which Oslo said “will have consequences”.
The Israeli minister said he “ordered the termination of any representation on behalf of the Norwegian Embassy in Israel vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority,” which has partial administrative power in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“There is a price for anti-Israel behaviour,” Katz added in a statement, citing Norway’s recent recognition of a Palestinian state and backing of a pending International Criminal Court case implicating Israeli leaders in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A separate statement mentioned “serious statements by senior Norwegian officials” that the foreign ministry viewed as anti-Israeli.
The ministry statement said it would revoke the diplomatic status of “eight Norwegian diplomats… whose duties were to represent Norway vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority”.
In an official note delivered Thursday to the Norwegian embassy in Tel Aviv, the Israeli foreign ministry said the envoys’ diplomatic status “shall be revoked seven days after the date of this note”.
The note accused Norway of “one-sided policies and statements” since the October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip 10 months ago.
In May, Israel had ordered Spain’s consulate in Jerusalem to stop offering consular services to Palestinians from the occupied West Bank from June 1, a “punitive” measure for Madrid’s recognition of a Palestinian state, Katz said at the time.
Spain, Ireland and Norway had earlier announced their decision to recognise a Palestinian state, which Israel’s government opposes.
Recognition by the three countries brought to 146 the number of UN member states recognising a Palestinian state.
– ‘Extreme action’ –
Norway on August 5 ruled that the International Criminal Court had jurisdiction over Palestinian territories and that it should go ahead with proceedings in its case for arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders over the Gaza war.
In June, Norway announced it would increase its funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) by 100 million kroner ($9.3 million).
The agency provides more assistance in education, relief and development in Gaza than any other organisation, but Israel has alleged UNRWA employs hundreds of “terrorists” among its thousands of Gaza employees.
“This is an extreme action that first and foremost affects our ability to help the Palestinian population”, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement following Katz’s announcement.
“We are considering what measures Norway will take to respond to the situation that the (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu government has now created”, the statement added.
Norway hosted secret Israeli-Palestinian talks in the Norwegian capital that led to the Oslo Accords signed in Washington in 1993.
They established a limited degree of Palestinian self-rule, and were intended as an interim measure that would lead to Palestinian statehood, but talks tapered off.
Foreign leaders have warned that the expansion of Israeli settlements, considered illegal by the international community, threatens the viability of a Palestinian state.
