Norway–Israel relations
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Israel–Norway relations refers to the bilateral relations between Israel and Norway. Norway was one of the first countries to recognize Israel on 4 February 1949. Both countries established diplomatic relations later that year. Israel has an embassy in Oslo, which serves Norway and Iceland. Norway has an embassy in Tel Aviv and two honorary consulates (in Eilat and Haifa). 553 Israeli citizens live in Norway and 260 Norwegians live in Israel.
In 1981, a group of labour union members founded the organization Friends of Israel in the Norwegian Labour Movement (Norwegian: Venner av Israel i Norsk Arbeiderbevegelse). The purpose was to strengthen relations between Norwegian and Israeli labor movement in an informal and personal way. This was done by sending delegations to Israel, and by receiving visitors from Israel.
Israel's ambassador to Oslo was an Israeli Druze poet and university lecturer, Naim Araidi. His deputy was George Deek, a Christian Arab from Jaffa. George Deek became chargé d'affaires at the embassy till the new ambassador Rafael Schultz started his mission in the summer of 2014.
The leader of the third largest political party in Norway, Siv Jensen is a staunch supporter of Israel, and claim to "not [be] afraid to defend Israel's right to defend itself." She visited the Israeli city of Sderot in the summer of 2008, and experienced the landing of a rocket from Hamas first hand, and said that she and others had to "run for the air-raid shelter". She strongly opposed the Norwegian government's decision to recognise Hamas as she holds that "you don't negotiate with terrorists, you just don't." In January 2009, she appeared at a demonstration called "Let Israel live" in Oslo. The Norwegian Police Security Service feared that Jensen might be the target of an attack although Jensen herself was not concerned. While political scientists had speculated that the Progress Party would lose more voters than they would gain by this strong support for Israel, polls showed a slight increase in support for the party.
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