Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz officially rejected the request of Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to visit Israel.
Israel Hayom reported on Tuesday that even before the Norwegian minister’s appeal to his Israeli counterpart, the Norwegian foreign ministry tried to coordinate the long-awaited visit to Israel, but the Israeli foreign ministry in Jerusalem did not respond to the request and introduced delays which left the Norwegian minister no choice but to request the invitation from the Israeli foreign ministry. As mentioned above, he was refused.
The wooing by Norway, a country that continues to demonstrate unabashed hostility toward Israel despite the massacre October 7 atrocities, began at the NATO conference in Washington, DC last week, when Minister Eide was trying to locate Minister Katz at the opening reception, and after finding him, he told him: “We have many issues to talk about.”
According to eyewitnesses at the incident, Minister Katz responded: “There are also many things you did to us.”
The Israeli ambassador to Norway has not yet returned to Oslo since being called for consultations following Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian state and in response to Norway’s extremely hostile rhetoric against Israel. Sources familiar with the matter told Israel Hayom that there is currently no prospect of returning the ambassador.
Norway not only recognized a Palestinian state but refused to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization after the massacre of Israeli citizens on October 7. It refused to sign a condemnation of Hamas and supported the lawsuit against Israel in The Hague.
