Back in 2014, when Sweden approved the state of Palestine and acknowledged it as a country, its diplomatic relations with Israel were on halt, which seems to return to normal following the visit of Sweden’s foreign minister to Israel.
Relation between Swedish and Israel may get better because of the first visit of Sweden’s foreign minister Israel since 2014. On Monday, she reached Israel, ending the seven-year freeze in diplomatic relations between the two former allies that had started over disagreements on Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
What They Told In Press Conference.
Foreign Minister Ann Linde’s visit opens a whole new book of friendship and cooperation, said her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said it symbolized that the countries were turning a new leaf. Lapid on Monday stated at a press conference with Linde in Jerusalem Monday that “Sweden and Israel have a deep and long-standing friendship, with extensive trade and cultural ties. There are also quite a few arguments. In recent years, these arguments have caused us to drift apart. Today we are changing that,” She will also participate in opening an exhibition celebrating 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
This visit is also crucial because of the upcoming High-Powered International conference on combating antisemitism hosted by the Swedish Government in Malmo, a city known in recent years for being a hotspot of that form of hate. “The future is bright. There is a mutual understanding that we agree on many more issues than what we disagree on. Both sides are very eager to move on, to develop the relations we both agree on,” said Ziv Nevo Kulman, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden.
Linde tweeted Monday after a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial and museum, “On behalf of Sweden I promise that we say ‘never again,’ and mean it, we will continue to take action to combat antisemitism in all its forms, to make sure that we never forget.”
On Monday, Yair Lapid, whose father and grandmother were among the thousands of Jews saved by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg during the Holocaust, welcomed Linde at a press conference in Jerusalem.
Yair Lapid said in the press conference, “In my parents’ house, there is a wooden box in which my late father kept some souvenirs that survived the Holocaust. There is a yellow badge with the letter J, Jude Jew, some photographs and letters that somehow survived the war, and there’s a ‘Wallenberg passport,’ a document laden with seals and signatures, designed to hide the fact that Raoul Wallenberg had virtually no authority to grant it to my father. But he did and saved their lives.”
Sweden On Palestine.
Foreign Minister of Sweden Ann Linde said that “Sweden’s policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which supports a two-state solution, has not changed.” further She says that she was impressed by how Israel’s new government has shown it is interested in improving living conditions for Palestinians in Gaza, and that it has condemned violence by Israeli settlers.
On Tuesday, she visited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki in Ramallah. In talks, she emphasized that Sweden wants to play “a bigger role in renewing the peace process.”
Sweden had recognized Palestine as a notion back in 2014 and now want to reestablish good relations with Israel, which could solve the conflict between Israel and Palestine people. By making relation with both countries, Sweden can become an X factor in the talk, and as the Foreign Minister of Sweden said, they want to play a more prominent role in renewing the peace process between both nations
“I have invited both [Israel’s and Palestine’s] foreign affairs ministers to Stockholm,” Linde also told Expressen Swedish newspaper. “Not at the same time though, we take it to step by step.”
