Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke with Sweden's Minister of Foreign Affairs Anne Linde in the first conversation between Israeli and Swedish Foreign Ministers in seven years, Lapid said on Twitter Monday.
I spoke with @AnnLinde , the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden. This phone conversation, the first in 7 years between the Foreign Ministers of our countries, symbolizes the relaunching of relations at this level. pic.twitter.com/TmHRFm8wNn
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) September 20, 2021
The talk symbolized the relaunching of high-level relations, said Lapid, who added that he "appreciate[s] her statement regarding Sweden’s strong and solid commitment to the security of Israel and her recognition in the course of our conversation of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people."
Lapid and Linde also discussed Israel's participation in the Malmo Forum on Holocaust remembrance.
"I look forward to increased cooperation with Sweden on bilateral and multilateral issues," concluded Lapid on Twitter.
Israel closed its doors to visits from Swedish officials in 2014 after then Foreign Minister Margot Walstrom called to investigate “extrajudicial killings” of Palestinians during the 2014 wave of terrorism.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely at the time added that there had been a “degree of disconnect” between Sweden and Israel for two years before that.
Lapid also commented on Walstrom's criticism of Israel in 2016, while he was an MK and the Yesh Atid party head, accusing her of antisemitism.
Sweden announced it would officially recognize the state of Palestine in 2014 causing Israel to deliver a very public “reprimand” to then Ambassador Carl Magnus Nesser.
Linde replaced Wolstrom in 2019.
Herb Keinon and Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.