Sweden – Israel relations – דיויד סטברו

How the Gaza War Broke Israel's Taboo on Contact With the Far-right Sweden Democrats

Israel's government has boycotted the Sweden Democrats since the party's founding by neo-Nazis in 1988. The political repercussions of the Gaza war have led to a new Israeli directive calling for exploratory talks, but the Swedish Jewish community still refuses all contact with the far-right party

Published in Haaretz: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-02-26/ty-article-magazine/.premium/how-the-gaza-war-broke-israels-taboo-on-contact-with-the-far-right-sweden-democrats/00000195-4266-d852-a5df-efefdcb90000

STOCKHOLM – Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar's instruction for Israeli diplomats to launch discreet talks with the far-right Sweden Democrats has made waves in the Swedish media. It marks a drastic change for Israel's foreign policy, which was previously characterized by a long-standing boycott against far-right parties associated with antisemitism, Holocaust revisionism and neo-Nazi activists.

Sa'ar has ordered these exploratory talks with far-right parties in France, Spain and Sweden, Axios' Barak Ravid reported Monday. The Sweden Democrats' foreign policy spokesman, Aron Emilsson, who heads the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, told the daily Expressen that Israel's decision was "extremely positive."

"We've been working for a long time to improve relations," he said, adding that "the ties are also important in security matters, particularly regarding Iran."

The Sweden Democrats have been boycotted by the Israeli government since the party's inception in 1988, but two unofficial visits by the party's leaders to Israel in 2023 and early 2024, as well as a series of unpublicized talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and the Foreign Ministry triggered a policy change.

Ziv Nevo Kulman, Israel's ambassador in Stockholm, told the daily Dagens Nyheter in 2021 that his country had no ties with the Sweden Democrats and had no intention of establishing any. "This is a moral position about far-right parties with roots in Nazism," he said, two months into his term.

He told Haaretz last May: "We are aware of the positive statements by the Sweden Democrats about Israel. But at the same time, the party continues to adhere to extremist positions regarding a ban on brit milah [Jewish ritual 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 said the party's alleged support for Israel was "questionable."

Despite this earlier skepticism, the Israeli Embassy said Tuesday: "As part of a broader review of parties in Europe with which we have not previously had contact, the embassy has held talks with the Sweden Democrats. The initial contacts have largely focused on how the party handles its history and its stance on issues affecting Jewish life in Sweden."

Ziv Nevo Kulman, Photo: Israel's Embassy to Sweden

According to sources familiar with Israeli-Swedish relations, this change of tack was not only the work of Israel. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Sweden's center-left has been increasingly hostile toward Israel, and these parties' ties with Jerusalem have significantly weakened. Israel has become a wedge issue between Sweden's center-right coalition and the centrist and left-wing opposition.

According to the sources, the opposition's approach is pushing Israel into the arms of the Swedish populist right. As a result, the Sweden Democrats are increasingly seen as a legitimate party in both Israel and the Jewish world, a major win for the party.

For Sweden's Jewish community, the Sweden Democrats are still considered off-limits, at least officially. The party is not in touch with the community and is not welcome at community events.

In a letter to Israel's foreign minister a year ago, the European Jewish Congress and the Council of Swedish Jewish Communities expressed concerns about a meeting between Israeli ministers and Sweden Democrats visiting Jerusalem. The president of the European Jewish Congress, Ariel Muzicant, and the chairman of the Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, Aron Verständig, wrote that they were "gravely concerned" and referred to the party's "neo-Nazi roots."

Muzicant and Verständig added that the Sweden Democrats' "ideology is still inherently xenophobic even though its representatives claim to be our allies, making an exception for the Jews as a national minority, albeit claiming that Jews cannot be Swedes." They said the party regularly submitted bills to ban "non-medical circumcision," as opponents call it, and the importing of kosher meat.

When asked Tuesday about Israel's apparent policy shift, Verständig told Haaretz that he was notified a few days ago that Israel's Foreign Ministry had instructed the Stockholm embassy to forge contacts with the Sweden Democrats.

"However, we don't have contacts with the Sweden Democrats," Verständig said. "The issue of the Sweden Democrats is one that we discuss regularly, but we haven't changed our position and we still don't have ties with the party."roots

The Sweden Democrats party was founded in 1988 by members of Swedish neo-Nazi and far-right movements. A key figure in the organization was Gustav Ekström, a member of Germany's Waffen-SS, the SS' military arm, during World War II and an activist in the NSAP, the Swedish Nazi party that disbanded in 1950. Other founders were members of white supremacist parties, neofascist and neo-Nazi movements, the Swedish skinhead movement and criminal organizations.

But the neo-Nazi past wasn't the only reason for the Israeli boycott. In recent years party members have spread conspiracy theories and racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic propaganda. In 2021 the Swedish daily Aftonbladet revealed that Jörgen Fogelklou, the party's leader in Sweden's second-largest city, Gothenburg, spread antisemitic and racist statements on social media such as "It is clear that Jews are the root of all evil in the world."

A few years ago, another local party leader in southern Sweden, Jonas Lingvärn, took part in performances by rock bands supporting white supremacy and used the slogan "Skinhead 88" – 88 is shorthand for HH, meaning "Heil Hitler."

The party first entered Sweden's parliament in 2010, and in the 2022 elections it won more than 20 percent of the vote, making it the country's second largest party. Until just a few years ago, the Sweden Democrats were boycotted by parties across the political spectrum.

But after a shift in approach by two center-right parties, the Sweden Democrats became an integral part of the right-wing bloc after elections, without which a center-right government could not be formed. In parliament, the party heads the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Justice Committee and the Industry and Commerce Committee.

How Gaza Became a Swedish Domestic Political Issue

Sweden is no longer trying to create peace in the Middle East. Instead, the "humanitarian superpower" has become a country where the parties make short-term use of the war to win votes.

Published in Svenska Dagbladet: https://www.svd.se/a/Jbx098/david-stavrou-gaza-har-blivit-svensk-inrikespolitik

Sweden's Middle-East policy is a dynamic creature. In the 70's it went from the early pro-Israeli policies of the Erlander era to the radical pro-Palestinian activism of the Palme era. Later ties with Israel strengthened as Göran Persson positioned himself as an international fighter against antisemitism and part of attempts to bring peace to the region. confusingly enough, Sweden's turn to the right and Carl Bildt's term as Foreign Minister aligned Sweden with the Palestinians again. A few years later, Stefan Löfven's government continued the trend when it recognised Palestine, while Foreign Minister Wallström promoted a "feminist foreign policy", but focused on supporting the Palestinian cause more than woman's rights in any other region.

These policies had one thing in common – whether they were formed by Sten Andersson's "Stockholmsgruppen" or by over enthusiastic professional diplomats, they were all based on the assumption that Sweden can somehow contribute to solving this decades-long conflict and that it's an actor in this far away complicated drama. That all supposedly changed two years ago. Sweden's application to join NATO, the end of 200 years of non-alignment and the focus on Ukraine meant a paradigm shift. When I talked to Foreign-Minister Billström in 2022, he told me about a "recalibration of Swedish foreign policy" and "new priorities". He said that the NATO accession is above anything else and after that it's all about "our neighborhood" meaning the Nordic states and the Baltic region. He added that "this is where we're putting our emphasis", making it clear that fixing the world, including the Middle-East, is no longer a priority.

Fast forward a couple of years and we suddenly have a new reality. Sweden's new foreign policy priorities may be right or wrong, but at least they're clear and transparent. What happened during the last European Parliament election campaign, however, is the exact opposite. Since the war in Gaza became a major part of the news cycle and a fashionable subject in activist circles, Swedish policy makers, in a new and cynical twist, decided to use it as a tool to mobilize voters. And so, Sweden is no longer trying to bring peace to the Middle-East, instead the "humanitarian super-power" has become a petty war profiteering vote-collector.

Vänsterpartiet is a good example. You'd have to be extremely naïve in order to think that the European Parliament has a substantial effect on the current war. Still, Dadgostar and Sjöstedt went all in with the genocide accusations and demands for sanctions against Israel. They even supported boycotting Israel's Eurovision participation. When it comes to the EU, this is all symbol politics. The real issues are climate change, immigration and economic growth. But V's electorate are wearing Palestinasjals and shouting "Intifada-revolution!". That's where the votes are. Sjöstedt may also be looking at a competing party which can only be described as war-mongering. Nyans posters say "Legitimera Hamas" and the party claimed it will use a seat in the European Parliament to remove Hamas from the terror organizations list. For Vänsterpartiet there was nothing to lose by making Gaza a campaign issue and there was a world to win. Socialdemokraterna, in perfect harmony, jumped on the Palestinian wagon slightly more moderately, insuring it wouldn't stay behind. How this will affect even one Palestinian in Rafah remains to be seen.

The conflict in Gaza was also used by Sverigedemokraterna which for months is trying to position itself as "Sweden's most pro-Israel party". But this isn't really about Israel. It's an attempt to wash away the party's neo-Nazi past. The idea that "we are friends of Israel, so we're no longer antisemites" is just as insulting as the old claim that "I'm not an antisemite because some of my best friends are Jews". Bust SD's timing is perfect. Some Israeli politicians are willing to align themselves with Europe's most populist and minority-hating parties, even if the side effect is legitimizing parties which are, or used to be antisemitic or neo-Nazi.

All this wouldn't have mattered so much if it was only about politics. Parties use what they can to get elected, that's just how it is. But this is causing damage too. The last thing real Israelis need is the support of ultra-right-wing parties encouraging Israeli politicians to continue marching into a hopeless future of endless war and backsliding democracy. They do, however, need real friends – Europeans who will support Israel's right to be a Jewish state and defend itself, but also insist that it coexists with its neighbors and stays a prosperous democracy. On the other side, the last thing Palestinians need are friends who adopt the Hamas narrative of colonialism, genocide and armed struggle. What they really need, besides humanitarian help, is uncorrupt leaders who are not the local chapter of the Muslim brotherhood or Iran.

But it's even more serious in a Swedish context. Politically dancing on the blood in Gaza and Israel is blowing wind in the sails of Swedish antisemitism which has never been worse.

Sweden's political class has to start taking responsibility. It's fine that it decided that Sweden can't bring world peace. It's actually probably very wise. But that doesn't mean Swedish politicians have to go to the other extreme. Even if they can't be part of the solution, at least they can stop being part of the problem.

Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden Rejects Far-right – and Stirs Political Storm

Israel's new ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, is eliciting strong reactions in the country following an interview he gave to Swedish newspaper, in which he said that Israel has no ties to the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats party.

Published in "Haaretz": https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium-israel-s-ambassador-to-sweden-rejects-far-right-and-stirs-political-storm-1.10334124

The ambassador's interview followed the official visit of Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde to Israel, which was the first such visit in ten years. It was seen by many as a new start for bilateral relations between Israel and Sweden after the frigid period that came with Sweden’s recognition of Palestinian statehood in 2014. Speaking to the Dagens Nyheter daily, Nevo Kulman, who took his post in August, said that Israel has no relations with the Sweden Democrats and has no intention of establishing such ties in the future. He does not mean to get involved in Sweden's democratic process, he said, "but this is a moral position that is about far-right parties with roots in Nazism."

He continued, "We don't have, and don't intend to establish, any contact with the Sweden Democrats. They can say that they support Israel, but you also have to look at what they don't support. We will also not have contact with openly Islamophobic parties. This also applies to other countries in Europe. ”The Sweden Democrats party was founded in the late 80's as a result of a series of mergers of political movements on Sweden's far-right, nationalist and neo-Nazi scene. Since then, it has become closer to the mainstream, referring to itself as a "nationalist and social-conservative" party. It entered the Swedish parliament in 2010, and is currently the third-largest political party in Sweden.

Anders Lindberg, left-leaning political editor-in-chief of the Aftonbladet daily wrote that Israel's clear spoken language about "far-right parties with roots in Nazism" should be seen as a "wake-up call" to his home country. He also claimed that the Israeli statement emphasized that the Sweden Democrats’ Nazi past and ideology should make it impossible for democratic parties to have any contact with them.

On the other hand, on the right, many claimed on social media that Nevo Kulman was meddling in Swedish politics. "I hardly think that an ‘apartheid state’ built on stolen land where the original inhabitants are treated as less-than-second-class citizens are in a position to lecture others on ‘xenophobia,’" one critic wrote on Twitter, "nor is what happens in Sweden any of your business." Another wrote, "Please avoid burning bridges at this point, you might change your mind after a year in an almost-dystopia of rampant crime, Arabic clan infiltration and imported antisemitism."

Continues here: https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium-israel-s-ambassador-to-sweden-rejects-far-right-and-stirs-political-storm-1.10334124