Sources say the Swedish Foreign Affairs Committee's new Social Democratic chair is pushing for a tougher policy toward Israel. The Center Party could determine whether a majority backs seeking suspension or termination
Published in Haaretz: Swedish Opposition Could Force Shift on EU-Israel Association Agreement
The Swedish parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee discussed Thursday whether Stockholm should advocate for suspending or terminating the European Union's association agreement with Israel, as the opposition's narrow majority may help advance the initiative.
Sweden's Left Party has in the past called for the EU-Israel Association Agreement to be terminated, while the Social Democrats and Greens have advocated for suspending it. The Center Party could therefore prove decisive: If all four parties agree on a common position, their 176-seat majority could be used to change the line the caretaker government is expected to represent at EU level.
No formal statement was made after the meeting. Representatives of the Center Party and the Social Democrats said they will release a statement in the future, while the Sweden Democrats' foreign policy spokesperson, Aron Emilsson, said he does not want to see the agreement frozen. He believes that would be harmful and would leave Sweden isolated within the EU.
Sweden's September 13 election produced an exceptionally narrow result, with the Social Democrats remaining the largest party and, together with the rest of the opposition, holding 176 of parliament's 349 seats. But the Social Democrats' majority has so far proved insufficient to form a government.
The Center Party refuses to join a government that includes the Left Party, while the parties remain divided over the composition and policies of a future coalition. Outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and his center-right government therefore remain in office in a caretaker capacity while Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson tries to find a viable parliamentary arrangement.
This leaves Sweden in an unusual situation: It may take weeks or even months before a new government is formed, but the four opposition parties that won a razor-thin parliamentary majority – 176 seats compared to the coalition's 173 – can already use it to influence government policy, particularly on the relatively few issues on which all four can agree.
Sources familiar with the details have told Haaretz that Former Social Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Morgan Johansson, who has taken over as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, is pushing for a change in Sweden's policy towards Israel. According to the sources, when the committee meets tomorrow, October 8, it is expected to discuss whether Sweden should advocate suspending or terminating the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Although the Foreign Affairs Committee itself will not formally vote to suspend the agreement, a more consequential stage comes the next day.
On Friday, the Swedish government will consult Sweden's Committee on European Union Affairs, ahead of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday. A parliamentary majority could then establish a new Swedish position, potentially requiring the caretaker government to advocate suspending or terminating the EU-Israel agreement despite it not being the government's own policy.
One issue which may delay the process is the fact that the four parties which hold the current parliamentary majority do not yet appear to have agreed on a common formulation, with some calling to suspend the agreement and another to terminate it.
"Now the Center Party must show its hand: Will it follow the left's lead and collectively punish all Israelis, or will it safeguard Sweden's relations with Israel?" a government source told Haaretz.
Any actual suspension or termination of the agreement would ultimately have to be decided at the EU level, which means that the Swedish move will affect Sweden's bilateral relations with Israel rather than Israel-EU relations.
However, a new Swedish position could also make a difference on a European level, since it will mean that another significant European country joins Spain, Ireland and other governments pushing for measures against Israel under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The European Commission has already proposed suspending some of the trade preferences Israel receives under the agreement, a measure that can be approved by a qualified majority of EU member states, but the proposal has so far failed to secure sufficient support in the Foreign Affairs Council. A Swedish shift would alter the balance among EU governments and add political weight to efforts to turn the Commission's proposal into EU policy.
The last time a Social Democratic government came to power in Sweden, in 2014, one of its first major foreign-policy decisions was to recognize the State of Palestine, making Sweden the first Western European EU member to do so while already a member of the Union.
The move was followed by years of some of the worst relations between Israel and Sweden in decades, including repeated diplomatic confrontations and periods in which senior-level contacts were severely strained. Relations gradually improved in the years that followed, particularly after Sweden's then-foreign minister Ann Linde visited Israel in 2021, and improved further under the center-right government that took office in 2022.
A new Swedish push to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement would therefore risk reversing a decade-long process in which the two countries slowly rebuilt their political relationship.
