No Israeli officials will meet Sweden’s foreign minister during her trip to the region, a spokesman says today, after she called for a probe into the killings of Palestinian assailants.
Erik Wirkensjo, spokesman for Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallstrom, told AFP she had wanted to meet both Israeli and Palestinian officials during her visit to the region from Thursday to Saturday.
“This time it was not possible to visit Israel,” Wirkensjo says.
Asked why there were no meetings planned, he says such questions must be “asked to the Israelis.”
Swedish Foreign minister Margot Wallstrom talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during a EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on January 18, 2016. (AFP / JOHN THYS)
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon blames “schedule problems” and declines to provide further details.
In January, Israel’s deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely said Wallstrom would no longer be welcome in the country after she called for investigations into the killings of Palestinian assailants by Israeli forces.
Wallstrom had earlier said Israel must avoid “extrajudicial executions”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Wallstrom’s call as “outrageous.”
— AFP
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
