While Norwegian politicians still cling to the illusion of a two-state solution, Islamist forces have long since made it clear that the conflict with Israel will never end – it will be used. To delegitimise. For destabilisation. And for war by other means.

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide’s visit to Israel marks more than a diplomatic gesture – it also exposes a deep naivety in Norwegian foreign policy understanding. Eide speaks warmly of peace, negotiations and a two-state solution, but seems unable to recognise what all previous Israeli leaders have learned the hard way: There will never be a two-state solution. Not because Israel has not wanted it. But because the Islamic worldview, and particularly the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, needs the conflict as it is.

At its core, this is not a political issue, but an ideological one. Islam’s worldview does not recognise compromise with what it regards as illegitimately occupied Muslim land – and that includes all of historic Palestine, from the river to the sea. That’s why every previous offer of a two-state solution – from the Oslo Accords to Ehud Barak’s offer of 97 per cent of the West Bank in 2000 – has been rejected. Not with concessions, but with intifadas and rocket fire. Hamas – part of the Brotherhood – said it clearly in its charter: Negotiations are a charade, jihad is the way.

That the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after 30 years of “process”, still hasn’t realised this is not only tragicomic. It is a disaster for Israel – and a tragedy for Norway’s credibility. Eide says that Israel needs a two-state solution. He said this after 7 October – after children, women and the elderly were slaughtered in their own village because they were Jews. An event that should have put an end to the illusions. But no. Instead, Norway accuses Israel of making peace impossible – not the terrorists whose constitution forbids it.

Let’s be honest: The so-called two-state solution has never been an end in itself. It has been a political tool. For Islamist actors, it has served as a secular legitimisation for attacking Israel. Like a well-oiled humanitarian facade around a permanent low-intensity war, not unlike the classic strategy of jihad: step-by-step, subversion-based and tireless. Therefore, the conflict must persist. A permanently unresolved issue allows Islam to play the victim card globally, keep the region on fire and delegitimise the Jewish state in Western forums.

The fact that Norwegian diplomats think they can negotiate some kind of harmonious peace between a democratic state and an ideology that rejects its very existence is a sign of the times. It’s like sending a fire extinguisher to a place where petrol is sacred. Israel is not against peace, but it is against committing suicide in the name of peace. And they have every historical and moral right to do so.

So when Espen Barth Eide and Jonas Gahr Støre once again talk about “sustainable solutions” and “international norms”, they are actually talking past reality. Because in this conflict, it’s no longer about borders – it’s about existence. And if Norway really wanted peace, they should first and foremost recognise that.