East Jerusalem
In the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988, Jerusalem is stated to be the capital of the State of Palestine. In 2000, the Palestinian Authority passed a law proclaiming Jerusalem as its capital, and in October 2002, this law was approved by chairman Yasser Arafat. Since that time Israel has shut down all offices and NGO organisations connected to the PLO in East Jerusalem, saying that the Oslo Accords do not permit the Palestinian National Authority to operate in Jerusalem. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recognised East Jerusalem as capital of the State of Palestine on 13 December 2017.
Ireland–Israel relations
On 22 October 2014, the Seanad (Irish upper house of parliament) passed a motion calling on the government to give formal recognition to the State of Palestine and take active steps to promote a viable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The move follows similar initiatives in other European states, including Sweden and the United Kingdom. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most Israelis are opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, in December 2014 a petition was sent by over 800 Israelis asking Ireland to offer Palestine this recognition. The petition was sent to Ireland's Lower House ahead of a recognition vote already approved in the Upper House. Signatories to the letter included three well-known authors, Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, both Israel Prize winners, and David Grossman, as well as former Foreign Ministry director-general Alon Liel. Subsequently, the Irish government announced that it would accept a motion proposing the recognition of Palestine, with 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as the capital, as specified in U.N. resolutions. According to the Jerusalem Post, European countries have become frustrated with Israel, since peace talks have collapsed and Israel is still building settlements in territory the Palestinians claim as theirs. Ireland will not be alone in recognising Palestine; Sweden became the largest Western European country to offer Palestine recognition, and parliaments in Spain, Britain and France have backed resolutions in favour of recognition. However, the Spanish and British governments, are at this time, refusing to recognise a Palestinian state.