How Israel's invasion of Gaza became Swedish party politics again
When Hamas attacked Israel on October 2023, the right-wing parties in Sweden slammed the left for being too close to Palestinian groups. Now Israel is preparing a new Gaza invasion, the boot is on the other foot, writes The Local's Nordic Editor Richard Orange.
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The opposition Social Democrats have been reluctant to take a strong position since Israel began its invasion of Gaza in October 2023, affirming Israel's right to self-defence while emphasising the need to protect civilian lives and uphold human rights during the invasion.
That changed dramatically with party leader Magdalena Andersson's May 1st speech.
She referred to the conflict as "Netanyahu's war", pinning the blame firmly on Israel's combative leader. That Israel has blocked emergency aid from entering Gaza for the past 50 days while bombings have continued, was, she said "unreasonable, unacceptable, and abominable".
"How," she asked, "can Netanyahu and his ministers sleep at night?"
But she also laid into Sweden's government, demanding that it "raise its voice" to stop the "bomb attacks", "killing of civilians", and "settler violence", and calling on it to pressure Israel to allow emergency aid to reach the two million hunger-stricken citizens of Gaza, and to pressure the EU to freeze its free trade agreement with Israel and impose sanctions.
Two days earlier she had declared in a Facebook post that "all the indications are that Israel has committed war crimes", and called for the government "to meet toughness with toughness".
The party's foreign policy spokesperson Morgan Johansson followed up the criticism of the government.
"Sweden used to be a country which always stood up for international and human rights law and dared not only to criticise countries when they break human rights laws, but also actually take action," he told DN, calling for sanctions to be extended from settler groups to Israeli leaders.
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The Social Democrats' harder tone was met by an immediate kick-back from Israel's ambassador to Sweden.
"In the @socialdemokrats' virtual reality there is no Hamas terror, no Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and there are no Israeli hostages held in inhumane conditions for 571 days. There is only Israel to blame," Ziv Nevo Kulman wrote on X.
In stark contrast to the sharp attacks on the Social Democrats in the aftermath of Hamas' terror attack on October 7th, 2023, the response from the ruling Moderate Party is now relatively subdued.
"That is not for Sweden's government to decide. It's a legal judgement," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Dagens Nyheter somewhat evasively when asked if Israel had broken international human rights law. "But there's no doubt whatsoever that abhorrent things are happening in Gaza."
Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said the government viewed the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza "with the utmost seriousness" and was demanding that Israel let humanitarian aid reach the suffering population.
When she visited Israel and Palestine at the end of March, she was careful to treat both sides evenly, meeting both Palestine's prime minister and foreign minister Mohammad Mustafa and Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar. She called for the release of hostages held by Hamas, and discussion the expansion of settlements on the West Bank.
Sweden's Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa said that there were no plans to meet Johansson's demands and push the EU to freeze its trade deal with Israel or extend sanctions.
Malmer Stenergard's foreign policy statement to the parliament in February was broadly pro-Israel, reiterating the country's "right to defend itself against Hamas in the aftermath of the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust".
A "Gaza free from Hamas rule" was, she added, "a political prerequisite" for a two-state solution. Israel in turn had "an obligation to protect the civilian population in Gaza and to secure access to humanitarian support", and also to respect international and humanitarian law.
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These cautious statements are a big change from how the Gaza conflict impacted Swedish politics in the immediate aftermath of the October 7th attacks, when Niklas Gillström, press secretary for Finance Minister Elizabeth Svantesson, said the conflict had "truly shown the moral morass which exists in large parts of the Left".
The Social Democrats were then under pressure for the decision of their Palestinian-born MP Jamal El-Haj to attend a conference in Malmö attended by figures linked to Hamas.
Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan for a new, expanded offensive in Gaza, which Netanyahu has said will see Gaza's 2.1 million population "moved, to protect it", and troops remaining permanently in parts of the territory.
Being supportive of Israel looks likely to become more and more politically challenging for Swedish politicians.
Politics in Sweden is The Local's weekly analysis, guide or look ahead to what's coming up in Swedish politics. Update your newsletter settings to receive it directly to your inbox.
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