Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide continues to insist that Norway is “a friend of Israel” and always has been. He now thinks the Israeli conservative government’s recent sanctions against Norway are tied to a letter Norway sent last week to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Eide told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) this week that the letter expressed Norway’s opinion that the ICC can handle a case against the Israeli government and the Palestinians’ Hamas leaders. Several other countries don’t think the ICC can send out arrest orders against Israeli government officials because Israel isn’t a member of the court. Norway thinks it’s up to the court to evaluate who can be prosecuted.
An ICC prosecutor claimed in May that both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant should be held responsible for criminal violations in Gaza. The prosecutor has also sought arrest orders for three leaders of Hamas, including Ismail Haniyeh who later was killed in Iran last month. If the ICC issued arrest orders, the men could be arrested if they visited any of the 24 countries that are members of the court, including Norway.
Eide still thinks it’s correct for Norway to carry out an ICC arrest order should the occasion rise. For Israel, already angry with Norway for recognizing the Palestinian state and over Eide’s criticism of Israel’s constant attacks on Gaza, Norway’s letter to the ICC may have been the last straw. Its government officials have responded by calling Norway “anti-Semitic” and revoking the diplomatic status of Norwegian representatives stationed in the Palestinian West Bank, which has long been occupied by Israel. Like the UN and the International Court of Justice, Norway views Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, which continues to expand, as illegal.
Eide, meanwhile, had already become a target of Israeli ire because Norway has long supported the Palestinians’ right to exist, promoted a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and has tried to end the current war. Spain and Ireland have also recognized Palestine as its own state, but Israel’s conservative government has opted to target Norway’s Labour government. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz had already refused, for example, to meet Eide during one of his visits to the region. Eide responded by saying that “I think it’s important to meet and speak together, especially when people disagree.”
Some Norwegian analysts think the current Israeli government is reacting mostly against Norway’s current Labour government, and won’t lighten up until Norway’s Conservative Party wins back government power. There’s generally non-partisan support in Parliament for Norwegian foreign policy, however, and the Conservatives’ former foreign minister Ine Eriksen Søreide thinks Israel has rather been provoked by Eide’s direct manner of speaking. “It’s difficult to say how much that’s played a role,” Søreide told newspaper Klassekampen on Wednesday, “but my impression is that it’s the sum of things over time (that’s provoked Israel’s right-wing government).”
Norway’s foreign minister has largely taken Israel’s new sanctions in stride, calling them an attempt to pressure Norway (long involved in various peace-broking attempts in the troubled region) out of the Middle East. “We’re not going anywhere,” responded Eide, refusing to be intimidated by what many view as Israel’s ultra-conservative government.
Eide told Klassekampen that the Norwegian government has tried to balance its respect for the trauma Israel suffered from Hamas’ attacks with its criticism of Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza: “We have repeatedly stated that we feel great sorrow over (the initial Hamas attack) and we have been clear that the (Israeli) hostages (held by Hamas) must be released.” Eide contends, though, that “it must be possible to point out exaggerated use of force by Israel” in Gaza. At home in Norway, Eide has been accused by demonstrators of not doing enough for Gaza.
Many Israelis have also been out protesting against Netanyahu’s government, also before Hamas’ brutal attack on the country last October 7, without being branded as “anti-Semitic.” Few countries have tried as hard as Norway to broker peace in the Middle East, dating back to the Oslo Agreement of the early 1990s, so Eide and the Norwegian government view such accusations as unreasonable. He’s concerned now that the absence of Norwegian diplomats on the West Bank will “first and foremost affect our abiity to help the Palestinian people.” He stated in a press release last week that Israel’s actions show how the Netanyahu goverment actively opposes work for a two-state solution.
“It’s absolutely true that we have been critical to the sitting Israeli government’s actions in Gaza and on the West Bank,” Eide told Oslo newspaper Dagsavisen. “We think much of what Israel has been doing is in violation of international law. I think we have a right to say that, and remain open to dialogue with everyone, also Israeli authorities and their relatively new foreign minister.”
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, meanwhile, was quick to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel last fall that set off Israel’s incessant bombing of Gaza now, and its recently documented abuse of Palestinian prisoners. Eide also condemned a drone attack on Tel Aviv last month for which the Houthi militia took responsibility, calling it “unacceptable.” Netanyahu’s government, however, has mistakenly accused Norway of not condemning Hamas’ initial attack, prompting Aftenposten, Norway’s biggest newspaper, to editorialize that Nethanyahu should apologize.
Eide has referred to Israel’s announced sanctions against Norway as “extreme,” adding that he thinks “they will make Israel even more isolated” internationally. He also thinks Israel’s anger towards Norway “is an expression of how stressed they are over the massive support we’ve had from the US, the EU, Great Britain and Germany.” Norway isn’t alone in criticizing Israel’s attacks on Gaza that have killed tens of thousands of civilians and left most of the region in ruins.
“They want to scare other countries for being clear, but we won’t let ourselves be frightened,” Eide told newspaper Klassekampen over the weekend. “We are friends of the Israeli- and the Palestinian people.”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
