Sweden’s relations with Israel were already bad. They just got much worse.
Israeli officials have a blunt message for Margot Wallstrom, the Swedish foreign minister: You are not welcome here.
"We decline to host the Swedish foreign minister in Israel," Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's deputy foreign minister, told reporters on Wednesday . "The State of Israel is closing its doors to official Swedish visits." An Israeli spokesman later clarified that the move did not apply to all Swedish officials, just the foreign minister. "It's just Margot Wallstrom," Emmanuel Nahshon told the Swedish news agency TT .
Wallstrom had been due to visit Israel on Thursday to attend an event in honor of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swede who saved tens of thousands of Jews during World War II, but the trip was canceled at the last minute. The Swedish Foreign Ministry says there was a scheduling conflict, though Swedish Radio News reports that Israeli officials had refused to meet with her.
Israel's public rejection of Wallstrom is a response to comments made by the Swedish foreign minister about allegations that Israeli forces had carried out extrajudicial killings during recent clashes with Palestinians. “It is vital that there are thorough, credible investigations into these deaths in order to clarify and bring about possible accountability,” she had told Swedish lawmakers on Tuesday.
At least 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since mid-September. These deaths come as Israel has been gripped by a fresh wave of violence, with seemingly random knife attacks by Palestinians on Israelis occurring virtually every day. In response, Israeli politicians and police officers have openly called for Israeli civilians to carry weapons. Human rights groups say their messages amount to a call for extrajudicial killings.
The Swedish foreign minister had previously commented on the risk of extrajudicial killings, in December, prompting a rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "It seems she expects Israel's citizens to bare their throats to those trying to stab them," Netanyahu said in comments to his cabinet that were broadcast on Israeli television . He reiterated this criticism in a meeting with foreign journalists on Thursday, dubbing Wallstrom's comments "outrageous, immoral and stupid."
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The issue with Israel arose almost immediately after Wallstrom took office as part of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven's new center-left government, when Sweden officially recognized the state of Palestine. In response, Israel recalled its ambassador, and then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned that the Middle East is “more complicated than a piece of furniture from Ikea,” which was founded in Sweden. Wallstrom had shot back: “I will be happy to send Israel FM Lieberman an Ikea flat pack to assemble. He'll see it requires a partner, cooperation and a good manual.”
Lieberman, now out of government, raised the Ikea analogy again after the latest dispute with Wallstrom. “I’m not calling to sever relations with Sweden, but I do recommend that everyone stop shopping at Ikea; there are enough Israeli-made products," the chairman of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu said, according to the Maariv newspaper. Lieberman also added that Sweden had "gained most of its wealth" by trading with Nazi Germany. "It knew about the refugee camps, about Auschwitz and about Buchenwald, and that the gold in which they were being paid had been robbed from Jews," he said. "Sweden is a country that only cares about its own money and wealth."
A very hot war of words.
a rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "It seems she expects Israel's citizens to bare their throats to those trying to stab them," Netanyahu said in comments to his cabinet that were broadcast on Israeli television .
And here's another reason why I can't abide Israel.....Mr. Natanyahu. Somehow he always knows the right thing to say to defuse a situation and lead rather than incite./s
I am not a fan of Natanyahu, but I don't bare the citizens that make up Israel any animosity. Heck, most of the time I don't like our countries leaders.