A Norwegian peace activist spits on the pictures of the hostages outside the Israeli embassy in Osloו
After a long period during which Ireland was considered the most hostile country toward Israel in Europe, it seems that Norway has managed to take its place and win the dubious title. Israel and Norway are currently in the most acute diplomatic crisis in the history of their relations.
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At the center of the crisis between the countries is Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, who has made a series of very harsh statements against Israel. At the international summit on the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians in Cairo, two weeks after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Eide was the only Western foreign minister who condemned Israel and did not call for the release of the hostages. Eide compared Israel to Russia on three occasions and said that Europe loses credibility when it does not condemn Israel for the same things for which it condemned Russia.
When the hearings of case filed by South Africa accusing Israel began at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Norway expressed support for the lawsuit. Eide was asked by an opposition member what he thought of the lawsuit and said that Israel may not be committing genocide in Gaza, but it is committing war crimes or crimes against humanity. The minister also clarified that it is good for the court to find out if genocide is indeed taking place in Gaza. Even in the additional proceedings being conducted at the International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding the legality of Israel’s policies and practices in the West Bank, Norway spoke strongly against Israel.
Eide boasted that Norway does not sell arms to Israel and called on countries that do export arms to Israel to stop doing so, because they could be indirectly involved in a potential genocide. He said recently in an interview with the NRK network podcast that the Israeli government does not understand what is in its own best interest.
On Sunday, Eide claimed in an interview with the VG tabloid newspaper that there is a deterioration in relations between Israel and the U.S. "I hear from all channels that America's patience with Netanyahu has dropped to less than 1%. It's a very bad atmosphere," he said.
Israel's ambassador to Norway, Avi Nir-Feldklein, was asked by the newspaper "daily newspaper Dagbladet to address Eide's claims. "These are questions you should ask the U.S., whether they think it is okay for internal discussions about a third party to be revealed publicly."
In 2010, in one of the WikiLeaks cables, a statement by the U.S. ambassador to Norway was revealed, in which he said that Eida, who also served as foreign minister at the time, seemed to prefer his own interests over the interests of Norway.
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Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said that Norway is ready to talk with Hamas to bring about a quick solution for ending the war
(Photo: Reuters)
Despite the problematic behavior of the Norwegian foreign minister, for some reason Israel decided to give a prize to Norway and chose it to be the country to hold hundreds of millions of shekels in frozen tax revenues that Israel holds from Palestinian imports for Gaza. This is part of an agreement between Israel and the U.S after Israel's refusal to transfer the funds to Gaza for fear it will fall into the hands of Hamas.
Eida's discussion of the deterioration of Israel-U.S. relations came a day after Israel finally determined the structure of the transfer of the funds to Norway. For the Norwegians, this is an important diplomatic achievement that presents them as a significant player in the international arena.
Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said that Norway is ready to talk with Hamas to bring about a quick solution for ending the war. This is not surprising, given that Norway is the only country in Europe that does not define Hamas as a terrorist organization.
In December, another aspect of Norway's problematic behavior toward Israel was revealed. The country's Foreign Ministry forbade the King of Norway, Harald V, from sending official condolences to the State of Israel after the October 7 massacre, "in light of the political nature of the conflict."
Note the double standard. When he attended the Cairo International Book Fair, Eida took with him the wife of the Norwegian crown prince and introduced her to aid organizations working in Gaza from whom she heard heartbreaking stories about what is happening in Gaza. The Norwegian foreign minister said at the same meeting that what is happening in Gaza is "hell on earth." After the meeting, they both stood in front of the cameras when the heir to the throne's wife shed tears and from time to time looked at the foreign minister who was standing next to her to get confirmation that she was saying the right things.
That's how it works. When the King of Norway wishes to express condolences to the State of Israel, he is forbidden to do so, but there is no problem for the wife of the Crown Prince to express empathy for the Palestinians in Gaza.
Even after it was revealed that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the massacre on October 7, Norway continues to fund the agency and even criticizes the countries that chose to freeze their funding. Minister Eida expanded and said that "because of 12 rotten apples, you don't stop funding an entire organization. Let's say that in one city in Norway, one police station is caught in inappropriate acts, because of that we will stop funding the entire Norwegian police force?"
A senior representative of the Norwegian ruling party, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, even recommended UNRWA as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Norwegian News Agency just days ago about the resumption of United Airlines flights to Israel. The article states that United will return to flying to Israel in March after stopping the flights "immediately after Israel started the war against Hamas." The false narrative that Israel is the one that started the war against Hamas has already appeared in other media outlets in Norway that make sure to always demonize Israel.
On Wednesday, the Norwegian newspaper Dagen reported on the initiative of a citizen living in southern Norway who prepared a list of Norwegian pro-Zionists, because "it is important to have such a list just as there are lists of pedophiles." In addition, It reported on an event organized by a feminist organization during which a woman of Jewish origin offered to discuss the sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists, and in response she was booed and called a "Zionist pig."
The situation on the street in Norway is no different from the situation in the country's media. A Norwegian "peace activist" was filmed on Thursday spitting on photos of the hostages near the entrance of the Israeli embassy in Oslo. Not far from the embassy, a man unfurled a chain of Palestinian flags, placed an Israeli flag on the sidewalk and invited people to come and step on it. The Israeli embassy in Oslo conducted a survey on the X platform and asked where the surfers think the photo was taken - in Iran or in Oslo?
Nir-Feldklein said in an interview with the VG newspaper that after the war Israel will have to decide who its partners are and it is not certain that Norway will be a significant player because "it needs to understand that we are living on October 7 while it is stuck on October 6." In another interview, the Israeli ambassador said that, unfortunately, the Norwegian government does not understand the situation and that relations between the countries are in crisis.
In view of Norway's behavior, the Norwegian ambassador in Israel has already been summoned several times to reprimand talks at the Foreign Ministry.