adminIsrael has summoned Sweden’s ambassador in Tel Aviv after the Scandinavian country’s newly elected Prime Minister Stefan Lofven pledged that his government would recognise a Palestinian state. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Lofven was rushing to a decision without understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that he regrets that the new prime minister was in a hurry to make statements on Sweden’s position regarding recognition of a Palestinian state, apparently before he had time even to study the issue in depth,” Lieberman’s office quoted him as saying, in a statement issued late on Saturday.
It added that Sweden’s ambassador to Israel, Carl Magnus Nesser, “will be invited for a talk at the foreign ministry in Jerusalem,” but did not say when.
A Swedish foreign ministry spokesman said Nesser had been summoned to the ministr.
Social Democrat leader Lofven – who narrowly won last month’s general election – said in his inaugural speech on Friday that his government wanted to bolster a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
No timeframe for the formal recognition of a Palestinian state has been announced. The decision does not need parliamentary approval to be enforced.
“A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and the will to co-exist peacefully,” Lofven told parliament.
This should take place with respect for the “legitimate demands of the Palestinians and the Israelis as regards their right to self-determination and security,” he added.
Lofven met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in 2012 and told him that Sweden would recognise Palestine should the Social Democrats return to power.
Sweden voted in favour of Palestinian observer status at the United Nations in 2012, which was granted despite opposition from the United States and other countries. – AFP
Online Reporter