Israeli forensics inspect the body of a Palestinian terrorist who was shot after getting out of his car and firing at Israelis near the Hizma checkpoint, north of Jerusalem on Thursday. (Flash90)
In her latest show of siding with the Palestinians, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom denounced the killing of terrorists at the scene of an attack, labeling these acts of defense as “disproportionate response.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom on Friday criticized Israel for committing “extrajudicial executions” of Palestinian terrorists, according to a report in the Swedish newspaper Expressen.
The ongoing wave of Palestinian terror throughout Israel, which began at the start of the Jewish New Year on September 13 at the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, claimed the lives of 21 people and wounded 18 – at least 21 seriously.
Asked by Member of Parliament Mathias Sundin why she has not strongly condemned Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis, Wallstrom responded, “I think it’s terrible, and it must not happen. Israel has the right to defend itself, to ensure its safety.”
She accused Israel, however, according to the Expressen report, of carrying out “extrajudicial executions” of the terrorists at the scene of the attacks, describing it as “disproportionate response.”
“The number of dead on the other side [is] greater than the original death toll by several factors,” she reportedly said.
Israel Slams Swedish ‘Support’ for Terror
“This is an outrageous statement,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry stated, calling it “delusional, rude and detached from reality.
“The [Swedish] foreign minister is suggesting the citizens of Israel simply present their necks to the killers seeking to stab them with knives,” the Israeli response continued. “The citizens of Israel and its security forces have the right to defend themselves. In Israel, every person who commits a crime is brought in front of a judge, including terrorists. The citizens of Israel have to deal with terrorism that receives support from irresponsible and false statements like that.”
“To focus on the actions terror victims take in self defense only serves to draw attention away from the horrors of terrorism,” Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Isaac Bachman Lavie stated. “Instead, we should condemn and act to stop the perpetrators, the financers and the inciters of terrorism.
Mourners at the funeral of terror victim Hadar Buchris, 21, in Jerusalem on November 23, 2015. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
“If we focus on condemning and preventing terrorism, there will be no need for self defense,” he added.
On Saturday morning, the Swedish Foreign Ministry issued a statement claiming that “the Foreign Minister did not say that Israel conducts ‘extrajudicial executions’. The Foreign Minister made a general statement about international law and the right to self defense and the importance of proportionality and distinction.”
“What she stated applies to all parties,” the statement read, seemingly ignoring the fact that Israelis are at the receiving end of Palestinian terror attacks, and not the other way around.
After the Islamic State terror attacks in Paris on November 13 that claimed 130 lives and wounded more than 350 – many critically – Wallstrom linked the massacre to the Arab-Israeli conflict, saying, ‘to fight radicalization, we have to go back to the situation in the Middle East, where especially the Palestinians see no future. We either have to accept a desperate situation or act forcefully.”
In October, Wallstrom angered Israelis by tweeting a call for an end to the violence in Israel and neglecting to mention that the terror attacks were being carried out by the Palestinians. “Escalating violence in Jerusalem. Attacks against civilians unacceptable. Bring perpetrators to justice. Leaders must act responsibly,” she posted.
A year ago, Sweden recognized the non-existent state of Palestine, a move that Wallstrom strongly defended.
By: Terri Nir, United with Israel
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Source: United with Israel
