At rally, right-wing activists urge Swedish FM to resign

Several dozen Yisrael Beytenu activists rallied outside the Swedish Embassy in Tel Aviv on Friday, urging Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom to resign over her “anti-Semitic” call for a thorough probe into Israelis who have killed Palestinian attackers during the ongoing terror wave.

On Tuesday, Wallstrom said it was “vital that there is a thorough, credible investigation into these deaths in order to clarify and bring about possible accountability” for the Palestinian stabbers and car-rammers’ deaths, drawing a furious response from Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night called Wallstrom’s statement “outrageous” and “stupid.”

“I think it’s immoral. It’s unjust, and just wrong,” he said.

At the demonstration Friday, Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer branded Wallstrom’s comments “anti-Semitic.”

“The Swedish foreign minister, with her anti-Semitic remarks, proves that she has no understanding of the reality,” he said. “She closes her eyes in the face of terror, and will only wake up when the terror comes to her home. She ought to quit immediately.”

Demonstrators, meanwhile, held up signs reading: “Wake up, Europe,” and “Israel — democratic. Sweden — hypocritical.”

Since the start of the recent terrorism and violence, at least 25 Israelis have been killed, mostly in stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks. Over 130 Palestinians have been killed, most while carrying out or attempting attacks — in all, Israel has identified 91 of the Palestinians killed as attackers — and others in violent clashes with security forces.

Israeli officials have maintained that security services are justified in killing suspected attackers, and that making a greater effort to neutralize them without killing them would generate unnecessary risk.