Rangel also condemned “restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, the displacement of the population, the hunger situation that has developed in Gaza, and the destruction of infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and places of worship.”

He said there was an “urgent” need to reach a ceasefire and secure the release of the hostages.

The country’s largest opposition party condemned the move, warning it endangered not only Israel but also Jordan.

With the move, Portugal joined the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, which issued similar statements earlier on Sunday. France and several other countries were expected to do so on Monday at a two-state solution summit.

In announcing the move on X, the Portuguese Foreign Ministry initially posted its statement alongside an image of the Portuguese flag next to that of Sudan, which resembles the flag of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The ministry later removed the erroneous tweet and replaced it with one featuring the correct flag.

A leader of Chega, a right-wing party that’s Portugal’s main opposition movement, condemned the move, warning it would embolden terrorists and could lead to Jordan’s destruction.

“What is this recognition of? Gaza with Hamas, a terrorist group? The West Bank, with the world’s most corrupt government? Geographical contiguity between the two?” Chega Vice President Antonio Tanger Correa said in a video message.

Hamas and other terrorist groups have not freed Israeli hostages and “have the sole purpose of destroying Israel, as you know, as well as to kill Israelis as per the infamous slogan ‘from the river to the sea’,” said Tanger Correa, a former diplomat who had served as ambassador to both Israel and Egypt, among other countries.

“There’s another very serious problem: What happens with the 60-70% of the population of Jordan, who are Palestinian? It already happened in Black September. They’ll once more say: This is our country. And then, will they destroy Jordan? Jordan will be destroyed because of a misconceived recognition by European countries? Is that what they want, the destruction of one of our few allies in the region?” he said.

The majority of Jordan’s population identifies as Palestinian. The Hashemite-led government of the previous king of Jordan killed thousands of Palestinians in the Black September uprising of 1969.

In May, Chega clinched second place in the country’s third snap election in three years, edging out the Socialists to become the biggest opposition party in parliament.

The head of International Relations for the Socialist Party, Francisco Assis, told reporters in Porto that his party “welcomes” the recognition. “It’s a historic moment, it is a relevant moment, it is a correct decision, it is a decision that arouses broad national support and broad support at European and Western level,” he said.

Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement, recalled the tragic history of Portugal’s Jews, who were driven out or underground during the 16th century during the Portuguese Inquisition. In 2013, Portugal passed a law that offered citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews. Tens of thousands of people, including many thousands of Israelis, became Portuguese citizens under the law, whose implementation was paused indefinitely in 2023 amid alleged irregularities.

“Considering the history of Portugal towards the Jewish people, with the Inquisition, Expulsion and massacre, it is very sad to see it jump on the bandwagon of performative diplomacy with this empty recognition of a Palestinian state,” Roytman told JNS. “As we have seen, Hamas have taken credit for this and are proud of each and every recognition that they claim is a direct result of Jewish bloodshed.”

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman and founder of the European Jewish Association (EJA), a prominent Jewish organization representing Jewish communities across Europe, called Portugal’s move an attempt “to please a small but noisy and sometimes violent crowd,” leading to “steps that constitute a reward for terrorist organizations after the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre.”

The Portuguese government and others are “demonstrating helplessness towards antisemitism that’s rising day by day,” yet they “suddenly demonstrate great determination when they want to please violent political groups,” Margolin told JNS. Europe without Jews “would be a dark and gloomy place,” he warned. “Instead of taking steps that will embolden the haters of Jews and the haters of Israel, they should start taking steps in favor of maintaining the security and prosperity of Jews throughout the European continent,” Margolin added.

Portuguese Jews and their allies staged two protests in Lisbon over the past 24 hours following the decision, Sofia Afonso Ferreira, a journalist, writer and member of the center-right Earth Party-MPT, told JNS.

“We’re very upset here with this decision, which the majority of Portuguese people oppose,” said Afonso Ferreira. For many critics of the decision, “the most egregious thing about it is that it goes against the government’s commitment to only recognize Palestinian statehood if certain conditions are met, including the release of all Israeli hostages in Gaza, and the disarmament of Hamas. Suddenly, all the conditions were abandoned,” she said.

Afonso Ferreira and others are working on submitting to the National Assembly, the Portuguese parliament, a petition to initiate a critical debate on the government’s change of position, she said.

The Jewish Community of Lisbon published a statement in which is said that it was “legitimate” for the government to recognize Palestinian statehood, but that the timing of the recognition was inappropriate as it “happened at a moment when the hostages, held captive since Oct. 7 2023, have not yet been released by the terrorists, and these same terrorists remain active and armed, oppressing and victimizing innocents, including their own people.”

Israel Hayom contributed to this report.