Yediot Acharonot reported that the Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallstrom is coming to visit Israel this Thursday. She sought to meet with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials but was brushed off being told that their schedules are full. But that doesn’t matter to Wallstrom who will visit her true friends in the PA.
Wallstrom is not welcome because of her past anti-Israel statements according to the Yediot report. In 2014 Sweden recognized the PA as the State of Palestine. Avigdor Lieberman who was foreign minister at the time attacked the one sided statement as a reward for terror. “Relations in the Middle East are a lot more complex than assembling Ikea furniture!” Wallstrom retorted that she’d be happy to send Lieberman some Ikea Furniture. He will see that “what you need to put together first of all is a partner… For peace… you also need to actually sit down at the same table and discuss the future.” She also accused Israel of irritating close allies.
In mid-November last year Wallstrom said ISIS’s attacks on Paris were linked to Palestinian frustration saying “we must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence”. In December she accused Israel of executing terrorists who carried out stabbing attacks without giving them a fair trial.
Wallstrom has decided to come anyway though she will not be received by any Israeli officials. Let’s hope her true friends in the PA will treat her nicer than the immigrants in Sweden treat their hosts.