Swedish FM cancels visit to Israel
Foreign Ministry says Bildt postponed trip after learning Netanyahu may refuse to meet him
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has canceled a planned trip to Israel, the Foreign Ministry announced Saturday night.
The statement said Bildt decided to postpone his visit, scheduled for Thursday, after learning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering refusing to meet with him.
Op-Ed
Hagai Segal
Hagai Segal slams ministers who speak out against Swedish paper but nothing else
Tension continues to build over a Swedish tabloid report that the IDF is harvesting organs from Palestinians. Israel is demanding that the Swedish government condemn the report but the latter has so far refused.
Sweden is the current president of the EU, and sources in Jerusalem say the cancelation may have diplomatic consequences.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, whose country is scheduled to preside over the EU next,is expected in Israel on Wednesday. On Saturday he was in Sweden, and expressed regret for El Mundo's interview with a famous Holocaust denier.
A statement from Moratinos' office condemned the Spanish daily for interviewing David Irving. "Despite support for freedom of speech, the minister finds it unfortunate that a historian who denies the tragedy of the Holocaust is given a platform. A statement of this kind offends the Jewish people," it said.
Bildt on previous visit
Photo: Gil Yohanan
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