STOCKHOLM -- Sweden on Thursday became the biggest western European country to recognize a Palestinian state, prompting a strong protest from Israel, which swiftly withdrew its ambassador from Stockholm.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry posted a message on Twitter announcing the move and saying the Swedish government "expressed hopes for peaceful coexistence" between Israel and the Palestinians.
The move by Sweden's new left-leaning government reflects growing international impatience with Israel's nearly half-century control of the West Bank and east Jerusalem and its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
"We want to help to provide fresh dynamism to a stalled peace process, and we want to give our support to the moderate forces among the Palestinians who soon will have to sit down at the negotiation table," Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said at a news conference. "We also want to facilitate a deal by making the parties in these negotiations less unequal."
Sweden also announced a new five-year plan to help the Palestinians, increasing bilateral aid to $200 million from about $68 million.
In his inaugural address on Oct. 3, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told Parliament that a two-state solution was the only way to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
"Sweden will therefore recognize the state of Palestine," he said, because a solution "requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful coexistence."
Wallstrom said Thursday that Sweden believes that the Palestinians have met the criteria under international law for such recognition.
"There is a territory, a people and government," she said, adding that Sweden was the 135th country in the world to recognize a Palestinian state.
It is the third western European nation to do so, after Malta and Cyprus. Some eastern European countries recognized a Palestinian state during the Cold War.
In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly voted to recognize a de facto state of Palestine in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Israel was quick to condemn Sweden's announcement, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying, "It's a shame that the government of Sweden chose to take a declarative step that only causes harm."
He said in a statement Thursday that the decision would strengthen "extremist elements and Palestinian rejectionism."
"The Swedish government must understand that relations in the Middle East are more complex than one of Ikea's flat-pack pieces of furniture, and would do well to act with greater sensitivity and responsibility," he said.
After the announcement, Israel recalled its ambassador to Sweden for consultation, said Paul Hirschson, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's deputy spokesman.
"It's an expression of a certain level of upset from our side," he said.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, welcomed the move by Sweden, a European Union member, as "a principled and courageous decision."
"It is our hope that other EU member states and countries worldwide will follow Sweden's lead and recognize Palestine before the chances for a two-state solution are destroyed indefinitely," Ashrawi said.
Israel has said the Palestinians can gain independence only through peace negotiations and that the recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations or by individual countries undermines the negotiating process. Palestinians have said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn't serious about the peace negotiations.
The latest round of U.S.-brokered talks collapsed in April. American officials have hinted that Israel's tough negotiating stance hurt the talks, and Netanyahu has continued to settle Israelis in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
More than 550,000 Israelis now live in the two areas, greatly complicating hopes of partitioning the area under a future peace deal.
U.S. State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said the U.S. supports Palestinian statehood but added that it can come only through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that resolve status issues and end their conflict.
"Some countries [are] responding to the lack of a resolution of a peace process out there," she said.
Wallstrom, the Swedish foreign minister, said she had expected Israeli criticism against Sweden's decision.
"It happens that ambassadors are recalled for consultations. It is part of the diplomatic toolkit," Wallstrom said. "I am convinced that both our countries have an interest in maintaining and strengthening our good bilateral ties."
While the U.S. and most other European powers have refrained from recognizing Palestinian independence, they have become increasingly critical of Israeli settlement construction. The 28-nation EU has urged that negotiations to achieve a two-state solution resume as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, some EU members have hinted that they may support recognition of a Palestinian state.
Romain Nadal, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, said this month that France "will have to recognize Palestine," although he did not specify when such a move might take place.
And Britain's Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution this month to give diplomatic recognition to a Palestinian state, although the government of Prime Minister David Cameron has opposed recognition.
Some other western European countries -- including Germany, Denmark and Finland -- have said they're not planning to follow Sweden's lead.
Information for this article was contributed by Karl Ritter, Matti Huuhtanen, Karin Laub and Matthew Lee of The Associated Press; by Isabel Kershner of The New York Times; and by Niklas Magnusson, Johan Carlstrom and Gwen Ackerman of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 10/31/2014