Israel visit of Swedish FM to go ahead despite newspaper article

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, will visit Israel next month, despite the controversy over the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet’ which ran an article accusing the Israeli army of harvesting organs from killed Palestinians, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said. The newspaper ‘Ha'aretz’ reported last week that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had threatened to cancel Bildt's trip if the Swedish Foreign Ministry did not condemn the article.

Meanwhile, an Israeli lawyer has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan against ‘Aftonbladet’, asking for US$ 7.5 million in damages. The attorney Guy Ophir stated: "The newspaper published an anti-Semitic and racist blood libel which constitutes incitement to racism against Jews and IDF soldiers. The suit was filed in New York since the paper is distributed there and since the reporter made a connection to claims of New York resident rabbis who trade with organs."