Ziv Nevo Kulman took office in 2021, at the tail end of one of the most difficult crises in the history of Israeli-Swedish relations. October 7 brought other voices to the fore. 'Suddenly, we see that on the core issues there is agreement,' he says in an interview with Haaretz
Published in "Haaretz": https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-05-21/ty-article/.premium/israels-ambassador-to-sweden-remains-optimistic-while-working-under-constant-threats/0000018f-9a6c-dce9-a1cf-feecb91f0000
While singer Eden Golan was on the Eurovision stage in Malmö, one person in the audience was accompanied by at least the same amount of security guards as the Israeli delegation. Ziv Nevo Kulman, the Israeli Ambassador to Sweden and longtime Eurovision fan, insisted on coming to the event to support Golan and her team, despite likely being one of the most heavily guarded people in the Scandinavian country at the time.
"There was an illustrative moment in the Israeli performance in the semi-final," he says. "The performance began with boos before Eden even opened her mouth. In response, there were also cheers from the audience, and a kind of duel started up between them. And then, because the performance was so good and Eden wasn't affected at all by the boos, most of the audience cheered for her. They were impressed by a 20-year-old singer who was put in a difficult situation and rose to the occasion with great honor."
Nevo Kulman says the hostility and calls for a boycott of Israel were met with a clear and supportive reaction from the public. "That was also the moment when she leapt up in the odds," the ambassador says. "As someone who has really been following the boycott calls in Sweden recently, I can say that the Swedes are in favor of dialogue, in favor of listening and in favor of freedom of expression. My impression is that the Swedes are not advocates for BDS."
The conversation with Nevo Kulman took place in a discreet location in Stockholm, with four security guards, both Swedes and Israelis, sitting in the next room. He says that after Eurovision ended, just before the delegation returned to Israel, he met with Golan. "It was one of the most thrilling and moving moments in my career," he says. "What we had here was a concerted effort by an incredible delegation with an incredible singer and an incredible song, and we [at the embassy] also helped to provide the right umbrella."
This umbrella, Nevo Kulman says, included his local media appearances in which he sought to provide a counterweight to the large anti-Israel protests in Malmö over Eurovision weekend. In an interview with the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, the ambassador was pictured wearing an ABBA T-shirt adorned with a yellow ribbon, as well as a necklace with the Chai symbol.
Nevo Kulman says that, normally, Eurovision to him is a time for celebration. If things were normal, he would probably have been going around Malmö with other ABBA fans, simply enjoying the fun and colorful event. But because of the current situation, this year none of that is possible.
"The shirt is like a wink," he explains. "I speak with a wide audience through the media interviews and I see more Swedes who are sympathetic to Israel. I hear from people who tell me – Don't get the wrong idea, don't be confused. Just because there are loud people in the streets, in protests, doesn't mean that's what the Swedes think. Our messages are getting through to a lot of readers and listeners and viewers."
Nevo Kulman wanted to stress that, while the protesters are entitled to freedom of expression, as a member of the European Broadcasting Union, Israel also has the right to participate in Eurovision without being harassed. "We also deserve the right to speak, and the competition showed that the conception that everyone in Europe hates us is incorrect," he says.
Unlike the professional juries, the voters from the general public are anonymous, and a large portion of them awarded Israel the coveted 12 points. "Including people from countries you wouldn't expect," the ambassador says.
Nevo Kulman cites the LGBT community as an example of a group that is partly hostile to Israel, despite the country's historic role in the contest. "We were supposed to be the country that carries this banner in the Eurovision, but this is a generation that doesn't know who Dana International was." Nevo Kulman, who is gay himself, says, "Now they're into being Queers for Palestine. It's not enough for them anymore to just be gay or trans, and this is concerning. We need to find a way to talk with these publics."
Things have been particularly tense at the Israeli Embassy in Sweden lately. This past Friday, the police detained several people suspected of firing guns near the embassy. In January, a grenade was thrown at the building, but did not explode. The incident took place a few days after reports came out that Hamas planned to attack the Israeli Embassy and other sites in the country.
"Of course, it affects the work," Nevo Kulman says. "In Sweden, unfortunately, consular services are only provided online. But the embassy is working, we're here and we're operating." He says the threats definitely have an impact on his regular agenda as ambassador: "There are things I did in the past that I can't do now. I can't stand in a public square and give a speech, and therefore I have to miss certain events, and it breaks my heart."
Nevo Kulman has been in the Israeli foreign service for 28 years. He served as cultural attache at the embassy in Tokyo, as Deputy Ambassador to the Czech Republic, as cultural affairs advisor at the embassy in Paris, as general consul in Montreal, and as head of the cultural diplomacy division at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. The position in Sweden is his first as an ambassador. Despite the nation's tranquil image, his tenure in Stockholm has been quite tumultuous.
He is well-liked by Swedish politicians and the Swedish media, maintains extensive ties with the country's Jewish community, and does not hesitate to express an opinion in different areas. For example, he firmly denounced the practice of far-right political provocateurs burning copies of the Koran. He fought for Israeli culture to be included in the Book Fair in Gothenburg. One of his more controversial moves was to declare that Israel would not maintain ties with the populist far-right Swedish Democrats party.
"We are aware of the positive statements by the Swedish Democrats about Israel," he says. "But at the same time, the party continues to adhere to extremist positions regarding a ban on brit milah [Jewish religious circumcision] and the importing of kosher meat, and it has yet to seriously grapple with its neo-Nazi past and with the antisemitism among its members." He adds that the party has not expressed any remorse for its many years of mistreatment of Holocaust survivors, which makes its supposed support for Israel questionable.
Nevo Kulman took over the position in Sweden in the summer of 2021, when Israeli Swedish relations had been languishing after a long and difficult state of crisis. The two countries were attempting to mend the rift that began in 2014, when Sweden officially recognized a Palestinian state and was followed by years of harsh statements, recalls of ambassadors and a halt to state visits.
"It was a lengthy process," Nevo Kulman says. "The Swedes understood that they had gone too far with the recognition of a Palestinian state. The move didn't change anything on the ground and didn't contribute to the Swedish interest of being perceived as a fair partner acceptable to both sides."
But the process of rehabilitating relations was jolted again in the aftermath of October 7. "Now it's impossible to promote an agenda beyond the conflict," says the ambassador, although he also sees an optimistic angle here. "Suddenly, we see that on the core issues there is agreement: the attitude toward Hamas, Israel's right to defend itself, returning the hostages, the fight against the accusations of genocide, and other issues."
Nevo Kulman explains that Israel and Sweden have similar positions on many matters. "Swedish official statements consistently cite Israel's right to defend itself and call for the immediate release of all the hostages." He adds that the Swedish foreign minister has said that he will soon visit the region. "Naturally, this will enable a direct and fruitful dialogue about all the issues on the agenda," the ambassador says.
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