Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper revealed that the head of the Israeli National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, yesterday submitted to the mini-ministerial council a recommendation to study reducing diplomatic relations with all countries that recognized the Palestinian state, including Spain, Ireland, Norway, and Slovenia, in a way that Israeli representation there remains at the consular level only.
The recommendation of Hanegbi, who is considered close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his most trusted advisors, also included closing or limiting the activity of the diplomatic missions of these countries.
According to what was reported on the Israeli newspaper’s website, this step surprised Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, who objected to what he considered a violation of his powers and those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Katz said that it is not reasonable for the National Security Council to determine what it should do and restrict the limits of its maneuvering. The ministers who are members of the mini-ministerial council defended Katz’s position, stressing that it is not reasonable for the National Security Council to impose its position on the ministers and their policy without prior coordination, and they considered that Hanegbi He went too far in his recommendation.
Foreign Minister Katz had previously issued a decision prohibiting the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem from providing service to the Palestinians.
Norway, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia recognized the State of Palestine last month, which caused a political shock in Israel, where this was considered a victory for the Palestinian narrative.
At the time, Netanyahu’s government seemed unable to confront this step, to which it responded by retaliating against the Palestinians by announcing settlement expansion, canceling the “disengagement law” in a number of settlements evacuated two decades ago in the northern West Bank, and imposing economic and political sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.