Swedish Government To Be Less Anti-Israel. For Now.
There's one less virulently anti-Israel government in Europe:
Nobody will admit it formally, but a few government officials in Jerusalem are dancing a jig over the defeat Sunday of Sweden's Social Democratic government. For years, said Zvi Mazel, a former Israeli ambassador to Stockholm, the Swedish Social Democratic government has promoted an unabashedly "pro-Arab, anti-Israeli" position. Mazel said that the center-right parties, headed by 41-year-old prime minister designate Fredrik Reinfeld, who ousted Prime Minister Goran Persson, made supportive comments about Israel while in the opposition. "We had good relations with them in the past, and hope it will continue," Mazel said. Mazel - who in 2004 wrecked a display at the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm that glorified a suicide bomber - said that Sweden has for years been among the most critical countries in the EU towards Israel, along with Ireland and France.
Well that's nice. Although in about 30 years, the old Swedish Social Democrats are going to look positively pro-Zionist compared to what's going to be happening in some European governments.
Nobody will admit it formally, but a few government officials in Jerusalem are dancing a jig over the defeat Sunday of Sweden's Social Democratic government. For years, said Zvi Mazel, a former Israeli ambassador to Stockholm, the Swedish Social Democratic government has promoted an unabashedly "pro-Arab, anti-Israeli" position. Mazel said that the center-right parties, headed by 41-year-old prime minister designate Fredrik Reinfeld, who ousted Prime Minister Goran Persson, made supportive comments about Israel while in the opposition. "We had good relations with them in the past, and hope it will continue," Mazel said. Mazel - who in 2004 wrecked a display at the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm that glorified a suicide bomber - said that Sweden has for years been among the most critical countries in the EU towards Israel, along with Ireland and France.
Well that's nice. Although in about 30 years, the old Swedish Social Democrats are going to look positively pro-Zionist compared to what's going to be happening in some European governments.
