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On Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden’s ambassador to Israel to protest Stockholm’s declaration to recognize the state of Palestine.
Swedish Ambassador Carl Magnus Nesser was asked to come in by Aviv Shir-On, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s deputy director general for Europe – Shir-On had “protested and expressed Israel’s disappointment” after Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Loefven declared his intention to recognize a the state of Palestine, the ministry said.
He also warned that such a move will “not contribute to the relations between Israel and the Palestinians, but in fact worsen them”.
Loefven’s remarks “diminish the chances of reaching an agreement, since they create among the Palestinians an unfeasible expectation of being able to reach their goal unilaterally and not through negotiations with Israel”, Shir-On said. He added that the Loefven’s decision to focus of the issue of Palestinian statehood was “strange” given the wars, turmoil and “daily acts of horror” occurring in the region.
Israel has always maintained that Palestinians can only obtain statehood through direct negotiations with Israel and not through any other diplomatic channels.
The Swedish embassy did not comment of the meeting, which occurred three days after the Swedish premier made the announced in his first address to the parliament after being elected. During the weekend, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had denounced the remarks, in which he said that recognizing Palestinian statehood would be a crucial step in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to coexist peacefully. Therefore, Sweden will recognize the State of Palestine”, Loefven had said on Friday, without mentioning when such a step will be taken.
Sweden had voted in favor of Palestinians getting observer state status at the UN in 2012, which was granted despite opposition from Israel, the US and other nations.
