Stockholm's syndrome

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven looked as if he had been possessed by some demon in his inaugural speech last Friday. When he spoke before the Swedish parliament, he said his country would "recognize the state of Palestine." MK Ahmad Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas were delighted, but the government in Jerusalem was outraged, and as a result, Swedish Ambassador to Israel Carl Magnus Nesser was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to receive an official Israeli demarche. In an effort to pre-empt this move, Sweden scrambled to clarify that recognition of the new state would take place only after the two parties arrive at a negotiated settlement.

So has Sweden walked back this statement and fallen in line with Israel's position? Not really. Lofven, who hails from the Social Democratic Party, was probably more genuine in his original statement than in his clarification. The first was probably a reflection of what he truly thinks. For Lofven, recognizing "Palestine" is just as important as dealing with Islamic State and Hamas. It tops his agenda, perhaps even eclipsing the other two.

Former Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Zvi Mazel told me Sunday that Lofven's speech was hardly a surprise. The resurgent Social Democratic Party is not pro-Israel. Lacking a majority in parliament, Lofven and his party have tried to boost their popularity by kowtowing to Swedish Muslims, who already make up more than 5 percent of the population. Malmo, among other places in Sweden, has become an Islamic bastion. This is what happens when a government subscribes to a liberal immigration policy. It has opened the floodgates, essentially letting anyone come in without setting proper criteria, without seeking balance, without exercising proper judgment. This spawned a new anti-immigration party, which garnered a whopping 13 percent of the vote in the recent elections. It has since been shunned by both the Left and the Right.

Israel and Sweden have a history of troubled relations. Just four months after Israel declared independence, with the first Arab-Israeli war still raging in full force, Stern Gang operatives assassinated the Swedish mediator Folke Bernadotte in the heart of Jerusalem. This was in response to his efforts to have Israel relinquish the Negev and hand it over to the Arabs.

Bernadotte was accused of being a British agent. Some have made other, much worse, accusations. In 1945, Bernadotte allegedly wrote SS commander Heinrich Himmler that they both shared the same views on the Jews. Do we need further proof to assess Bernadotte's attitude toward us?

Bernadotte's record stands in contrast to what his compatriot Raoul Wallenberg did. The diplomat saved many Hungarian Jews before he was killed by the Soviets. He was later recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations, and his light still casts Sweden in a positive light, despite the dimming effect of Bernadotte. Sweden and Israel have traveled along divergent paths for quite some time. In 1972, I was present when then-Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme met with then-Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban. Eban had arrived in Sweden to represent Israel at a conference. The body language said it all. To say that Palme was not a fan of Israel would be an understatement. Even Eban's exceptional rhetoric failed to make a dent in his attitude.

But what's most worrying is that Sweden is not alone. It is only a trailblazer. European countries may very well follow its lead, one by one. Of course, they are likely to sound equivocal statements along the way, very much like Sweden. Two steps forward, one step back.

There are multiple factors that contributed to this European posture: Muslim immigration; a lack of understanding when it comes to Hamas and al-Qaida and their extremism and Israel's conduct. Israel is partially at fault because it has often demonstrated a lack of sensitivity when it comes to its policies in Judea and Samaria.

The government can hunker down or show some flexibility, but it must always be cognizant of the sentiment on the world stage and the court of public opinion.

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