US opposes Palestine's recognition by Ireland, Norway, Spain

The White House has said it opposed "unilateral recognition" of a Palestinian state after Ireland, Norway and Spain announced they would establish relations, but warned Israel against withholding funds to Palestinian Authority [PA] in retaliation.

President Joe Biden "has been on the record supporting a two-state solution," his national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, told reporters on Wednesday.

"He has been equally emphatic on the record that that two-state solution should be brought about through direct negotiations through the parties, not through unilateral recognition," he said.

He stopped short of criticising the decision to formally recognise the State of Palestine by the three European countries, all close allies of the United States.

"Each country is entitled to make its own determinations, but the US position on this is clear," Sullivan said.

Israel has responded angrily, including by withdrawing envoys, with hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing the European nations of offering a "reward for terror."

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Netanyahu that he wants to take retaliatory action including severing an arrangement in which Norway handles funds intended to the Palestinian Authority.

Tax revenues to Palestinians

Under peace agreements brokered in part by Norway in the 1990s, Israel collects revenue money for the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank.

But Israel has blocked transfers since the aftermath of the October 7 blitz by Hamas, which governs besieged Gaza.

Sullivan said that funds should keep going to the Palestinian Authority which the Biden administration wants to strengthen in hopes it can assume control of Gaza from Hamas.

"I think it's wrong on a strategic basis, because wi thholding funds destabilizes the West Bank," Sullivan said of Israeli moves to stop funds.

"It undermines the search for security and prosperity for the Palestinian people which is in Israel's interests, and, I think, it's wrong to withhold funds that provide basic goods and services to innocent people," he said.

The tax revenues — known in Palestine and Israel as "maqasa" — are collected by the Israeli regime on behalf of the PA on Palestinian imports and exports, and Israel in return charges a 3 percent commission.

The revenues are estimated at around $188 million every month and represent the main source of income for the PA.

According to the PA, Israel has withheld the equivalent of $1.5 billion since its war on Gaza began.

Netanyahu vows not to accept sovereign Palestine

Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have been pushing Israel to move forward on a timeline for a Palestinian state, in part by dangling the prospect of Saudi Arabia normalising relations with Israel.

But Washington also vetoed a recent UN Security Council bid t o recognise the State of Palestine, saying that recognition could only come through negotiations that take into account Israel's security interests.

But Netanyahu and his coterie of extremist ministers and advisers have categorically rejected ending Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands or accepting an independent and sovereign Palestine.

On Wednesday he reaffirmed that his extremist government "will not consent to this."