Israel summons Sweden's ambassador over support for UNESCO vote

The Israeli foreign ministry yesterday summoned the Swedish ambassador, Carl Magnus Nesser, and reprimanded him over Stockholm’s support for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) resolution that criticised Israel’s policy in Jerusalem.

Sweden is the only European country which voted in favour of the UNESCO resolution. Six European nations voted against the resolution namely Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Germany and the United Kingdom while France, Spain, Slovenia and Estonia abstained.

#UNESCO

The Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, Emmanuel Nahshon, wrote on Twitter “Israel is angered by Sweden’s vote in favour of the draft resolution”. “It’s hard to believe that Sweden is the only European country that voted against Israel at UNESCO. It’s a shame”.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that it had “consistently strived for EU unity on this resolution” but “since the EU unfortunately has not been able to stay united, and since Sweden believes the current text is acceptable, Sweden has voted in favour”.

Sweden stands by the (UNESCO) Executive Board’s decision regarding a permanent UNESCO representative and a UNESCO reactive monitoring mission to the world heritage site Old City of Jerusalem and its walls. Sweden encourages Israel to enable this mission to carry out its tasks as mutually agreed by the parties in 2013 and we hope for its implementation.

it added.