Spain, Ireland And Norway Formally Recognize A Palestinian State. Here's Why It Matters.

Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday, a step toward a long-held Palestinian aspiration that was fueled by international outrage over the civilian deaths and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip following Israel’s offensive.

The joint decision by two European Union countries plus Norway, a nation with a strong diplomatic tradition in peacemaking, may generate momentum for the recognition of a Palestinian state by other EU countries and could spur further steps at the United Nations, deepening Israel’s isolation.

Previously seven members of the 27-nation European Union officially recognized a Palestinian state. Five of them are former eastern bloc countries who announced recognition in 1988, as did Cyprus, before joining the bloc. Sweden’s recognition came in 2014.

The Czech Republic, an EU member, says that the 1988 recognition by the former Czechoslovakia — of which it then formed a part — does not apply to the modern state. Slovakia’s Foreign Ministry says that the two sides confirmed their mutual recognition when Slovakia was becoming independent in 1992-93, and that the Palestinian state has a fully functioning embassy in Bratislava since 2006.

EU member Slovenia is also moving in the same direction. Prime Minister Robert Golob said his government will decide on the recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday and forward its decision to parliament for final approval.

Some 140 of the about 190 countries represented in the U.N. have already recognized a Palestinian state.

Here’s a look at how and why the new European announcements could be important:

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

A U.N. partition plan in 1947 called for the creation of a Jewish state alongside a Palestinian state, but