Lieberman: Sweden's decision to recognise a Palestinian state is 'deplorable'

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman described Sweden’s decision on Thursday to recognise a Palestinian state as “very unfortunate”, Anadolu news agency reported.

Responding to the move on his Facebook page, Lieberman stated that, “The decision of the Swedish government to recognise a Palestinian state is a deplorable decision that only strengthens extremist elements and Palestinian rejectionism.”

“The only way to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians is through negotiations, and steps like this only reinforce the unrealistic demands of the Palestinians,” he said.

He also noted that, “It is very unfortunate that the government of Sweden has chosen such a procedure that does a lot of damage without any benefits,” before sarcastically adding that “relations in the Middle East are a lot more complex than the self-assembly furniture of IKEA and that [the Swedish government has] to act with responsibility and sensitivity”.

To which the Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström replied, “I will be happy to send him a flat pack of IKEA furniture and he will also see that what you need to put it together is, first of all, a partner. And you also need to cooperate and you need a good manual and I think we have most of those elements,” the Times of Israel reported.

Lieberman is reportedly considering downgrading diplomatic relations with Sweden.

Wallström announced on Thursday that her country’s government had officially recognised the State of Palestine.

Sweden’s recognition of a Palestinian state has great significance because it is a member state of the EU. Other EU countries, such as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, also recognise the State of Palestine, but they had announced their recognition before joining the EU.

In mid-October, the British House of Commons also recognised, in a symbolic vote, the State of Palestine by a majority of 274 votes against 12. However, the vote is not binding and British Prime Minister David Cameron did not attend the session.

On 22 October, the Irish Senate approved a proposal, which is also not binding, that calls on the Irish government to recognise a Palestinian state. This came after the Labour Socialist Party of Spain submitted ​​its own proposal to the Spanish Congress calling for the same step, which according to the Jerusalem Post is expected to happen in November.

Earlier this month, Palestine distributed a draft resolution to the UN Security Council’s 15 member states as a prelude to its formal submission to the council calling for the termination of the Israeli occupation of Palestine within three years and the establishment of a Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders.