After the State of Norway submitted yesterday (Wednesday) its opinion to the Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC), according to which there is no objection to issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Galant, and that the Oslo Accords – to which it is a guarantor – are not valid – Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered to revoke the diplomatic status for the representatives of the Nordic country to the Palestinian Authority.
On Tuesday, Norway submitted a written opinion to its ICC pre-trial panel, according to which there is no objection to issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant, and that the Oslo Accords are not relevant to determining the court’s jurisdiction. Norway, as we know, is the guarantor of the Oslo Accords and its position has a weighty meaning before the ICC. Norway was even the first to announce that if a warrant is issued against Galant and Netanyahu, it will arrest them immediately if they reach its territory.
It should be noted that this threat is not expected to materialize because the likelihood that an Israeli official will fly to the list of countries with questionable attitudes towards Israel, such as Norway, Spain or Ireland is minimal.
The message to Norway was delivered today to the person in charge of the Norwegian Embassy in Israel, who received a summons to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a diplomatic letter. No fewer than eight diplomats have worked in the Norwegian embassy to represent Norway in front of the Palestinian Authority. In the meantime, the diplomats conducted the conference of donor countries, whose purpose is to help the Palestinian Authority. Limiting those staff members is expected to severely hamper these recruitment efforts.
The order to revoke the diplomatic status of those appointed for activities against the Palestinian Authority went into effect immediately, with the diplomatic status of the staff members expiring within a week. Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that “there is a price for anti-Israeli conduct. Instead of fighting Palestinian terrorism after the – On October 7 and to support Israel fighting against the Iranian axis of evil – Norway chose to award the Hamas terrorists in the form of recognition of a Palestinian state, but was not satisfied with that – and also joined the unfounded lawsuit against us at the ICC.”
The anti-Israeli conduct referred to by the Foreign Minister reached its peak yesterday with the submission of the opinion – but it has been going on for many months. In May, the chief prosecutor at the ICC, Karim Khan, stated that he had filed a lawsuit to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Galant, along with the leaders of Hamas, Sinwar, Def, and Haniyeh – when the arrest warrants are no longer relevant for the latter two, this is due to their elimination by Israel.
24 hours later, Norwegian Foreign Minister Aspen Barrett Eyd hastened to announce that “if an arrest warrant is issued against Netanyahu and Galant on behalf of the Hague Tribunal, we will be obliged to arrest them if they arrive in Norway”, thus earning Norway the dubious title of being the first country to admit on its own initiative that arrest the Israeli officials if they set foot on its territory.
Yesterday it was published in Ynet that Israel decided to cancel the trust arrangement with Norway, in the framework of which Norway transferred to Israeli custody the settlement money it collects from the Palestinian Authority to help the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to work to formulate additional measures against Norway. In the meantime, Israel’s ambassador to Norway, Avi Nir, was returned to Israel for consultations following the recognition of the Nordic state in a Palestinian state. In spite of everything, the Israeli embassy in Oslo continues to remain open and managed by the deputy ambassador.
The Foreign Minister’s decision today is a severe blow to the Norwegian diplomats, and clarifies Israel’s unequivocal position that it has zero tolerance towards countries that harass it in the international arena.
