January 6, 2006
Kristin Halvorsen, the Norwegian minister of finance, has stated that would support an economic boycott of Israel. Halvorsen is the leader of the Socialist Left Party, which forms a governing coalition together with the Labor Party of prime minister Jens Stoltenberg and the Center Party, caused outrage after telling a Norwegian newspaper that she backed the boycott, adding: "It is a long time since I bought any Israeli products." The country’s foreign minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere of the Labor Party, called a government-backed boycott of Israel “unthinkable.” Stoere apologized on behalf of the government to the Israeli ambassador to Norway. He also wrote a separate letter to his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice. Halvorsen's appeal for support of her party's announced boycott of Israeli products and services brought strong reactions from the Israeli embassy. In a press release, the embassy stated that the appeal would endanger the traditionally friendly relations between Israel and Norway.