Well that's just fucking stupid. The world has accepted Israel as a country for almost 80 years. You can hate them, you can say they never should have existed in the first place, but they are an actual country that actually exists. Even if they get completely wiped out and destroyed, every history book will still start out with "Israel was a country...".

Pretending like they aren't a country by putting quotes around their name comes across as extremely childish. Like a little kid who's angry at their parents so they start calling them by their first name instead of "mom and dad". Doesn't matter how awful they are, doesn't matter how much the child stomps their feet or what they say, it doesn't even matter if they emancipate themselves later and legally change their name. Nothing will change the fact that they are the child's, actual, literal parents.

If the author is really trying to pettily claim Israel isn't a country by putting quotes around their name, then that's just shitty journalism relying on personal emotions instead of unbiasedly presenting facts. And yes, I am aware that's how most journalism is these days, but that doesn't make it better.