Danish opposition parties urge government to take tougher steps against Israel, recognize Palestine

Danish opposition parties have urged the government to take tougher measures against Israel, including recognizing the Palestinian state, following Israel's latest offensive into Gaza City and a UN report confirming Israeli forces committed genocide.

Martin Lidegaard, leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party, said Copenhagen should act decisively, Danish broadcaster DR reported on Tuesday.

“I think it’s time for the Danish government to get its finger out, to say it in good Danish, and recognize Palestine as a state and recognize the Palestinians’ right to live,” he said.

The same call was echoed by the Unity List’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Trine Pertou Mach, who described the government’s response as a “stain on our history,” and by the leader of the Alternative party, Franciska Rosenkilde.

She urged Denmark to “stop the sale of weapons components for the F-35 aircraft that contribute to the genocide” and push for tougher trade restrictions on Israel.

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen acknowledged the gravity of the situation in Gaza, saying Israel must exercise restraint.

“Israel must hold back. We must have a ceasefire; we must have humanitarian aid unhindered into Gaza. That is the Danish position, and it is only being sharpened by what we see,” he said.

Lokke said Denmark is pushing within the EU for concrete measures, including suspending the trade section of the EU-Israel association agreement, restricting Israel’s access to the Horizon research program, and sanctioning extremist ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

However, he rejected the idea that Denmark was now closer to formally recognizing Palestine. “It is largely a matter of timing -- and it must happen in cooperation with other countries,” he said.

The calls in Denmark came after an independent UN commission concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a claim Israel’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed as “false.”

The International Court of Justice will make the final legal determination, though its proceedings remain ongoing.

Despite differing views on recognition, both the opposition and the government agreed that international pressure on Israel must increase, with Lokke stressing that “it is in Israel’s own interest that there also be a Palestinian state.”

The Israeli army has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023.

Nearly one million Palestinians, most of them displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip, remain trapped in Gaza City under relentless attacks.