Israel rejects Norwegian Foreign Minister's request to visit

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has officially rejected a request by his Norwegian counterpart to visit Israel, Israel Hayom reported.

Prior to Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide's request to visit Israel, his ministry turned to its Israeli counterpart, asking to schedule the visit, but the Israeli Foreign Ministry did not respond to the request, "delaying" the visit.

As a result, Eide himself turned to Katz, and received a rejection.

According to Israel Hayom, Norway's interest in reigniting ties with Israel began last week during the NATO conference, when Eide sought out Katz at a reception. After locating Katz, Eide said, "We have a lot of things to talk about." Those standing near Katz reported his response as, "There are also a lot of things you have done to us."

In May, Norway, Ireland, and Spain announced that they would recognize a "Palestinian state," becoming among the first countries to do so in the aftermath of Hamas' massacre of Israeli civilians.

Responding to the announcement, Katz quickly moved to recall Israel's ambassador to Norway.

Soon afterwards, Israel began preparing to exclude the representatives of Norway, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia from official briefings, and reports said that Israel had decided to delay updates and requests from the countries.

In February, Norway nominated UNRWA for the Nobel Peace Prize, despite the fact that around 10% of UNRWA employees are affiliated with terror groups. That same month, Norway announced additional funding for UNRWA.