The most well-known diplomatic coup of the 1990s is named after a Nordic capital. We thought of that today when the premiers of Ireland, Spain, and Norway unilaterally recognized the non-state of Palestine. Remember the Oslo Accords? Norway was as admired for them as Quisling was by Hitler a half century earlier. From Turtle Bay to Broadway, the process launched at the capital on the fjords was hailed as a peacemaking miracle. 

We were never fans of the Oslo process. It tended to rely on hope rather than on reality-based analysis. Yet, Israel, a country of laws, signed a binding Declaration of Principles that capped the Accords. Since then, it’s been chastised, unfairly, for Oslo violations. Ignored were violations of the other signatory, the Palestine Liberation Organization. Most notably, Ramallah endlessly kept declaring its “state” for the purpose of undermining the Israeli state.  

According to the Oslo agreement, “Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations.” That last word is key. As the White House stated today, President Biden strongly supports the two-state solution but he “believes a Palestinian state should be realized through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition.” 

Yet, the Palestinian Authority, which was created as a result of Oslo, has undermined negotiations, pursuing instead a “state” anywhere but in the West Bank and Gaza. As it initiated endless United Nations ceremonies and begged more and more countries to recognize it, Ramallah lost Gaza to its Hamas rival. Corrupt, widely despised officials are helping themselves to international donations. Large West Bank swaths are now run by Iran-backed terror gangs. 

The strategy behind the pursuit of statehood in all the wrong places is anchored in Ramallah’s desire to undo the Jewish state. And it is wildly successful. After the UN General Assembly declared them a “state under occupation,” the Palestinians signed the treaty that established the International Criminal Court. The idea — dragging Israeli officials to the Hague on spurious allegations despite the fact that Israel is not an ICC member — is bearing fruit. 

While the ICC prosecutor seeks to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu, Dublin, Madrid, and Oslo are enlisting in the effort to reward Hamas for the October 7 atrocities. Recognition of Palestine, they claim, would promote the prospects of peace. Expect other Europeans, like Malta and Slovenia, to soon follow suit. Jerusalem’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, is at Paris today, hoping to stop the avalanche. Washington could do more to help.  

Meanwhile President Abbas is 88 and “Palestine” has no credible succession plan. Election? The genocidal Hamas, polls suggest, would surely win. How’s that for promoting peace? A video released today shows the cruelty inflicted on unarmed women-soldiers kidnapped October 7. Presumed alive, five of them are kept in Gaza’s dungeons — while from afar, Norway cheers Hamas — and forgets the peace process to which it gave birth.