Countries that Recognize Israel 2023

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Recognizes Israel

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Israel is a country/territory in the Middle East, located near the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, where the majority of events chronicled in Christian and Jewish scriptures took place. Israel is one of the major players in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an ongoing territorial dispute between Jews and largely Muslim Arabs in which both populations claim possession of the land. As a result of this dispute, two separate nations were formed: Israel and Palestine (composed of two smaller territories, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip).

Although Israel has been admitted to the United Nations, as of December 2020, Israel was recognized by only 165 of the U.N.'s 193 member countries. A subset of U.N. members—most of which are Arab countries and/or Muslim counties—have refused to recognize Israel as a sovereign nation. This is largely an act of political solidarity with Palestine, whose sovereignty is recognized by approximately 139 U.N. members. Determining which countries do and do not recognize Israel or Palestine is a surprisingly complex task, as some countries have pledged their recognition, but subsequently withdrawn it or simply severed political relations without formally declaring a change of policy.

Countries That Recognize Israel

Note: * denotes a country that is a member of the Arab League.

Albania Egypt * Lithuania San Marino
Andorra El Salvador Luxembourg Sao Tome & Principe
Angola Equatorial Guinea Madagascar Senegal
Antigua & Barbuda Eritrea * Malawi Serbia
Argentina Estonia Malta Seychelles
Armenia * Eswatini Marshall Islands Sierra Leone
Australia Ethiopia Mauritius Singapore
Austria Fiji Mexico Slovakia
Azerbaijan Finland Micronesia Slovenia
Bahamas France Moldova Solomon Islands
Bahrain * Gabon Monaco South Africa
Barbados Gambia Mongolia South Korea
Belarus Georgia Montenegro South Sudan
Belgium Germany Morocco * Spain
Belize Ghana Mozambique Sri Lanka
Benin Greece Myanmar Sudan *
Bhutan Grenada Namibia Suriname
Bolivia Guatemala Nauru Sweden
Bosnia & Herzegovina Guinea Nepal Switzerland
Botswana Guinea-Bissau Netherlands Tajikistan
Brazil * Guyana New Zealand Tanzania
Bulgaria Haiti Nicaragua Thailand
Burkina Faso Honduras Nigeria Timor-Leste
Burundi Hungary North Macedonia Togo
Cambodia Iceland Norway Tonga
Cameroon India * Palau Trinidad & Tobago
Canada Ireland Palestine * Turkey
Cape Verde Italy Panama Turkmenistan
Central African Republic Ivory Coast Papua New Guinea Tuvalu
Chad Jamaica Paraguay Uganda
Chile Japan Peru Ukraine
China Jordan * Philippines United Arab Emirates *
Colombia Kazakhstan Poland United Kingdom
Costa Rica Kenya Portugal United States
Croatia Kiribati Rep. of the Congo Uruguay
Cyprus Kosovo Romania Uzbekistan
Czech Republic Kyrgyzstan Russia Vanuatu
Denmark Laos Rwanda Vatican City
Dominica Latvia St. Kitts & Nevis Vietnam
Dominican Republic Lesotho St. Lucia Zambia
DR Congo Liberia St. Vincent & Grenadines Zimbabwe
Ecuador Liechtenstein Samoa

Recent History of Israel

At midnight on May 14, 1948, the Provisional Government of Israel issued the Israeli Declaration of Independence, a proclamation that both established the new State of Israel and declared its independence. On the same day as its creation, the United States became the first country to recognize Israel. President Harry Truman recognized the provisional Jewish government as the de facto authority of the new Jewish state. Israel has the highest Jewish population worldwide. On May 15, 1948, the day following Israel’s declaration, the first Arab-Israeli war broke out.

On May 11, 1949, nearly a year to the day after Israel's creation, the United Nations General Assembly confirmed Resolution 273, which approved Israel’s application for membership, making Israel the 59th member of the United Nations. The vote was 37 to 12 (with nine abstentions), with many countries having already recognized Israel before the official U.N. vote. Of those who voted in favor, Cuba and Venezuela have since withdrawn their recognition of Israel. Of those who voted against Israel’s admittance, six were members of the Arab League. The debate over Israel’s sovereignty continues to this day.

Countries That Do Not Recognize Israel

Note: * denotes a country that is a member of the Arab League. # denotes a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Afghanistan # Indonesia # Maldives # Qatar #*
Algeria #* Iran # Mali # Saudi Arabia #*
Bangladesh # Iraq #* Mauritania #* Somalia #*
Brunei # Kuwait #* Niger # Syria #*
Comoros #* Lebanon #* North Korea Tunisia #*
Cuba Libya * Oman #* Venezuela *
Djibouti #* Malaysia # Pakistan # Yemen #*

Of the countries that do not recognize Israel, 16 belong to the Arab League, which has 22 full members and five observer members (note: Syria's membership is currently suspended and Venezuela is an observer state without voting privileges). Four additional members of the Arab League that had previously withheld recognition: Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, formally recognized Israel in 2020. Moreover, 24 of the countries that do not recognize Israel are members of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Countries that Recognize Israel 2023

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Countries that Recognize Israel 2023

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