Israeli leaders have been left rattled by a difficult week of diplomatic developments related to their ongoing war against Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip. 

It began with the news that International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors are seeking arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the conduct of the seven-month-old conflict, a development met with outrage in Israel and among its backers in the U.S. 

Then on Wednesday, Ireland, Spain, and Norway announced their intention to officially recognize the State of Palestine, in what represents a rebuke of deepening Israeli opposition to the two-state solution—the end goal of the stalled Arab-Israeli peace process—set out by the 1993 Oslo Accords. 

The Israeli reaction was furious. The Foreign Ministry recalled its representatives in Ireland, Spain, and Norway, while summoning those nations’ ambassadors in Israel “for a severe reprimand conversation.”  

Unlike Netanyahu, President Joe Biden has long supported the two-state solution, though he and other U.S. leaders have been critical of any unilateral recognition of the State of Palestine. The traditional U.S. stance has been that Palestinian recognition should only come as part of a broader peace deal with Israel. 

Asked whether the U.S. tried to stymie the new recognition announcements—or is hoping to prevent other nations from doing the same—a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek it would not comment “on private diplomat discussions.” 

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said this week: “The president is a strong supporter of a two-state solution and has been throughout his career. He believes a Palestinian state should be realized through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition.” 

Israel “is on the back foot, diplomatically; there's no question about that,” Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), told Newsweek. 

“We went from this moment of unprecedented support for Israel to the current moment of unprecedented pressure on Israel, and creeping isolation,” Lovatt added. “This probably shows just how much the Israeli government has mishandled the situation.” 

“Despite all this, Israel retains strong support where it matters,” Lovatt continued. “It retains extremely strong support in the United States, and it retains strong support in some European capitals.” 

“One could argue that most of the world could turn against Israel, yet so long as the U.S. and a few other critical Western allies are there to protect it in international forums, how much of that really matters?” 

Diplomatic pressure on Israel may grow in the coming weeks, with Slovenia planning to recognize the State of Palestine once lawmakers give final approval in mid-June. Malta is also planning to do so “when such recognition can make a positive contribution, and when the circumstances are right,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. 

Even U.S. support is not limitless. A growing number of Americans are expressing opposition to Israeli conduct in national polls, there is deepening frustration among the Democratic establishment, and the White House has repeatedly said it is concerned by Israel’s proposed assault on Gaza’s “last refuge” of Rafah and its sustained failure to allow adequate humanitarian aid to enter the devastated Strip.

Catch up on the latest: For regular updates of the crisis in the Middle East, visit Newsweek's Israel at War topic page.

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