Denmark hands 2 Swedes lengthy prison sentences for 2024 attack on Israeli embassy
Attackers given 12 and 14 years behind bars for throwing grenades at diplomatic mission; younger suspect admits to being member of crime network that acted as wing of terror group
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Two young Swedes were sentenced to jail terms Tuesday for throwing grenades at Israel’s embassy in Denmark over a year ago.
A Copenhagen court condemned an 18-year-old to 12 years in prison and a 21-year-old to 14 years after finding them guilty of “terrorism” in the October 2024 incident.
“The two men threw the grenades with the intention of seriously frightening the Israeli and Danish populations — the attack therefore constitutes a terrorist act,” police said in a statement.
The Copenhagen court also ruled that the two men, aged 16 and 18 at the time, acted in concert after prior agreement with one or more unidentified accomplices belonging to a criminal network in Sweden.
During the hearing, the youngest of the two, who is also being prosecuted in Sweden for shooting at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, admitted to being a member of the Foxtrot criminal network, which had recruited him during his secondary school years.
“The criminal network acted as the armed wing of a Middle Eastern terrorist organization in Denmark, where the Israeli embassy had been designated as the target of the attack,” prosecutor Soren Harbo said in the press release.
In the middle of the night on October 2, 2024, two grenades damaged the terrace of a house next to the diplomatic mission in the upscale Hellerup neighborhood. No one was injured.
Police identified the DNA of the younger man on a grenade found in the building’s garden.
The two were also convicted of attempted murder against the occupants of the house, but acquitted of endangering the lives and physical safety of the soldiers guarding the embassy. They will be expelled to Sweden after serving their time.
Denmark and Sweden, both home to thousands-strong Jewish communities, have seen sharp rises in antisemitic attacks since the war in Gaza was sparked on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
Henri Goldstein, the head of the Danish Jewish community, told The Associated Press in February 2024 that the number of antisemitic incidents registered in Denmark since October 7 had reached levels not seen since 1943.
In May 2024, Swedish intelligence services claimed that Iran was recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs to carry out “acts of violence” against Israel, a claim Tehran denied.
AP and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.