A picture of a TV screen taken on May 28, 2024, shows Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivering a speech over the recognition of Palestinian statehood by Spain, at La Moncloa Palace in Madrid.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the Spanish Cabinet will recognise a Palestinian state at its May 28 morning meeting as a European Union rift with Israel widens.

Ireland and Norway were also to make official their recognition of a Palestinian state later in the day. While dozens of countries have recognised a Palestinian state, none of the major Western powers has done so.

“This is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace,” said Sánchez, standing at the gates of the prime minister’s palace in Madrid, during a televised speech.

The Socialist leader, who announced his country’s decision before parliament last week, has spent months touring European and Middle Eastern countries to garner support for recognition and a cease-fire in Gaza.

Relations between the EU and Israel nosedived Monday, the eve of the diplomatic recognition EU members Ireland and Spain, with Madrid insisting that the EU should take action against Israel for its continued deadly attacks in southern Gaza’s city of Rafah.

Norway, which is not an EU member but often aligns its foreign policy with the bloc, handed diplomatic papers to the Palestinian government over the weekend ahead of its formal recognition of a Palestinian state.

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Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Spain that its consulate in Jerusalem will not be allowed to help Palestinians.

At the same time, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell threw his weight to support the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, including leaders of the Hamas militant group.

In his speech on Tuesday, Mr. Sánchez said that the recognition of a Palestinian state was “a decision that we do not adopt against anyone, least of all against Israel, a friendly people whom we respect, whom we appreciate and with whom we want to have the best possible relationship.”

He called for a permanent cease-fire, for stepping up humanitarian aid into Gaza and for the release of hostages that Hamas has held since the October 7 attack that triggered Israel’s response.

Mr. Sánchez also laid out his vision for a state ruled by the Palestinian National Authority that must connect the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem through a corridor.

“We will not recognise changes in the 1967 border lines other than those agreed to by the parties,” Mr. Sánchez added.