Israel has said Sweden’s foreign minister is not welcome in the country after she called for an investigation into the deaths of Palestinians involved in a four-month spate of deadly attacks on Israeli troops and civilians.
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Prosecutors made the request at a sentencing hearing in a Jerusalem court for the two, who were minors at the time of the chilling attack in which they and a third man snatched Mohammed Abu Khdeir (16) from an East Jerusalem street and subsequently killed him.
Wallström called on Tuesday for an investigation into allegations that Israeli forces have carried out extrajudicial killings in clashes with Palestinians.
The Foreign Ministry’s Aviv Shir-on rebukes Swedish ambassador to Israel Carl Magnus Nesser for Wallstrom’s “hostile” attitude toward Israel.
The comments were the latest in a series of statements by Wallstrom that have irked Israeli authorities.
The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have all expressed concern, saying that while they recognise Israel’s right to self-defence, restraint is necessary to ensure the violence does not escalate further.
The new spat of violence in the West Bank has killed 120 people since last September, majority Palestinians, who were killed in knife, firearm and auto attacks on Israelis.
Swedish press reported that Wallstrom said “it is vital” that there be a “thorough, credible” investigation into the deaths of Palestinians “to clarify and bring about possible accountability”.
“Given the harmful and baseless position of the Swedish minister, Sweden has excluded itself, in the foreseeable future, from any role with regard to Israeli-Palestinian relations”, Shir-On added.
Pushing back on Wednesday, Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told reporters that Ms Wallstrom’s censure risked “encouraging Islamic State to take action throughout Europe”.
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Hotovely said that Wallstrom’s comments were a “bad combination of folly and diplomatic stupidity, and Israel will close its door to official visits from Sweden”.
