Response to interpellation 2024/25:264 on the image of UNRWA in Sweden
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns Sweden's relationship with UNRWA and Israel's influence operations. M argues that Sweden has free freedom of opinion and independent media, which means that the media themselves decide which advertisements are published 1 2 3. M argues that the government prioritizes that aid reaches the civilian population quickly and has increased the readiness for humanitarian support in Gaza 4. M will not take measures against influence campaigns as Israel is not like Russia, China, or Iran 2. V argues that Israel's influence operations are a serious threat to democracy and that there must be consequences 5 6. V argues that Sweden must restore support to UNRWA 6. V believes that there is a lack of evidence that UNRWA is infiltrated by Hamas 6. V criticizes the government for inconsistency as they first supported UNRWA and then withdrew the support. MP asks if the decisions to scrap the support to UNRWA are based on information from Israel or the UN 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Lotta Johnsson Fornarve has asked me if I and the Swedish government intend to take any measures in light of what Lotta Johnsson Fornarve states in her interpellation regarding influence campaigns against Sweden from Israel and other foreign state actors. She also asks if I intend to summon Israel's ambassador to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
I have noted the information that Israel is to have purchased advertising space in Swedish media. In Sweden, we have free freedom of opinion and independent media. It is therefore up to the media themselves to decide which advertisements are published based on the applicable regulatory framework.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer to my interpellation, even though I did not receive an answer to my questions.
That foreign state actors are trying to influence the Swedish debate is a known threat to Sweden and Swedish democracy. We have seen several examples of this from Russia with several countries. That Israel is conducting influence operations in Sweden is nonetheless noteworthy and very serious. The purpose is obvious: to influence the Swedish debate and Swedish decisions.
The Minister responds that she has noted the information that Israel is to have purchased advertising space in Swedish media, as well as that we in Sweden have freedom of opinion and independent media. Of course, we must guard independent media. But when a state actor finances a campaign with false information and the clear aim of influencing Swedish public opinion and debate, it must have consequences, I believe.
It emerged at the end of last year that the Israeli state purchased advertisements on Swedish media sites. In the advertisements, a picture was painted that the UN agency UNRWA would stand close to the terrorist organization Hamas. The advertisements led to a website operated by the Israeli state with criticism and lies about UNRWA. The affected sites took down the advertisements when they were discovered. "This is an advertisement that should never have been published," said Karin Nyman, HR and Communications Director at TV4, to P3 Nyheter. The advertisements are funded by the Israeli state's marketing company.
Why then is Israel going so hard against UNRWA, which has existed since 1949 and has the UN mandate to protect and support Palestinian refugees? It concerns several million Palestinian refugees and their relatives. Since Israel was formed, they have been displaced from their homes. The answer is that Israel wants to discredit the UN in general and get rid of UNRWA and, in that way, also get rid of the Palestinian refugee problem.
To stop the support to UNRWA, as Sweden recently decided, is to completely fall into the Israeli trap and contribute to Israel's attack on the UN and international law. It is obvious to me that Sweden's government would rather listen to Israel's smear campaign than to serious researchers and the UN, even though the minister himself, just a few weeks ago at the UN, stood behind the fact that UNRWA is indispensable. It is both inconsistent and incomprehensible.
Israel's smear campaign in Sweden and globally is about more than food for starving Palestinians in Gaza, which at the moment is naturally extremely important and prioritized. The campaign is about Israel wanting to completely get rid of the Palestinian refugee problem. It is against that background that we must see Israel's slander campaign.
That foreign state actors are covertly trying to influence the Swedish debate is, as I said earlier, a known threat to Sweden and Swedish democracy. The smear campaign that Israel engages in, among other things in Sweden, is serious and must have consequences.
I therefore ask the Minister again: Will the Minister take any measures whatsoever in connection with this type of influence campaigns in Sweden from Israel and other foreign actors? Does the Minister intend to summon Israel's ambassador to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs?
Håkan Svenneling (V)
Madam Speaker! The answer we have received today from the Minister for Foreign Affairs in response to Lotta Johnsson Fornarves' interpellation regarding the Israeli influence operation and the image of UNRWA in Sweden is one of the shortest answers I have seen a Minister for Foreign Affairs give. It shows that the government is not taking this seriously. One is not taking Israel's influence operation seriously.
I do not know if it is because the Foreign Minister does not want to use the word hybrid threat. Most would otherwise define what Israel has done against Sweden as a hybrid threat. Influence operations are an increasingly serious threat to Sweden and to Swedish politics. We know that there are a number of actors who regularly and methodically engage in such activities, such as Russia, China and Iran. It is raised in many discussions and debates, and everyone is genuinely concerned about it.
But when it comes to states that stand closer to the government, such as Israel or the USA, it becomes a completely different tune. I think that is deeply inconsistent of the government and very serious.
Madam Speaker! I have brought my favorite book to the chamber, and it is, of course, Säpo's annual report from last year. In it, Susanna Trehörning, head of counter-espionage and constitutional protection at the Security Service, states that this is something that can be exploited by foreign powers, where proxies can be used to destabilize a society and exert influence against political decisions.
Further back in Säpo's annual report, it is discussed how foreign powers attempt to influence and make Sweden a target. That foreign powers are targeting political independence is one of the parts taken up in the annual report. It is mentioned that specific goals are to influence public opinion in Sweden, so that it in turn influences politicians and civil servants and also the media. Here, the exact example that the Security Service points out is very clearly visible, when they try to use media actors and deceive them through an advertising campaign, and then it turns out to be an influence operation.
I really think the government should summon Israel's ambassador and point out that as a state, one is not allowed to act in this way. If we, as the Foreign Minister expressed it in the previous interpellation debate, have a good dialogue with Israel, this should be self-evident to discuss.
This is not at all about freedom of expression or independent media. The media themselves argue, as Lotta Johnsson Fornarve pointed out, that if the advertisers had been true to the media, the media would never have published the advertising campaign. It is, therefore, a matter of an influence operation.
I unfortunately believe that this is rather about the government's stance in the relationship with Israel. One does not want to deteriorate that relationship in any way, but one is very keen to follow what the Israeli government says and thinks. Above all, it is about the government's very inconsistent stance regarding the UN organization UNRWA. First, one chairs meetings in the UN scrap heap and votes for resolutions stating that UNRWA is important. One states that resolution 202, which was one of the first resolutions to establish the Palestinian refugees' rights, shall be followed. But in the next breath, one lets the Minister for Development Cooperation choke off all support to UNRWA and worsen the organization's opportunity to operate. Add to that the Israeli legislation that will come into force next week, where UNRWA is prohibited from operating in Israel.
Sweden has simply become a vassal state for the Israeli far-right government when one both allows influence operations to take place in the country and acts in a way that supports what the Israeli government wants. It is also for that reason that the Israeli government has welcomed Sweden's decision to withdraw the funds to UNRWA.
Jacob Risberg (MP)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Foreign Affairs, for the answer! But I do not quite know if I should call it an answer, because I hardly believe we received any answer at all to the questions asked by Lotta Johnsson Fornarve. I had intended to join the debate and base it on the Minister for Foreign Affairs' answer, but since there was not much to base an argument on, it becomes difficult for me to join the debate.
It is remarkable how, since the current war began on October 7, one has quickly adopted everything that Israel's government says about UNRWA. You quickly stopped the support for UNRWA, which is remarkable given that it is a UN organization that Sweden has for a long time been involved in running and supporting. I cannot imagine any other country where, so quickly and based on groundless accusations, one would stop the support to a UN organization.
Several reports have been issued. Two independent investigations have been conducted regarding any links between Hamas and UNRWA. Among others, the Swedish Raoul Wallenberg Institute has been involved in investigating this. No links have been found. There is no direct evidence that UNRWA has been involved in the attacks on October 7.
UNRWA has a long mandate, since 1949. Sweden has always supported it. But now I begin to wonder what is considered most important: Is it to support the rules-based world order, of which UNRWA is a part, or is it to listen to any friends who come with groundless accusations, which one also acts very quickly on?
I would very much like to hear a bit more about how the government intends to act in light of the obvious influence campaign that has been ongoing. I will then return in my second speech with perhaps some sharper questions.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! I have, as I have said, noted the information that Israel is to have purchased advertising space in Swedish media. In Sweden, we have, as is well known, free freedom of opinion and independent media. I think that is something we should safeguard. It is therefore up to the media themselves to decide which advertisements are published based on the applicable regulations. Had I advocated for a different line, I would probably have received a completely different type of criticism.
Therefore, I, as Foreign Minister, will not summon Israel's ambassador or take any measures on this occasion.
When it comes to Håkan Svenneling's contribution to the debate, I think it is highly remarkable that he compares Israel's purchase of advertising space with Russian influence campaigns through bots. No, Israel is not like Russia, China, or Iran, as Säpo points out. Håkan Svenneling should know that, if he has indeed read Säpo's annual report so carefully.
Regarding the somewhat larger debate, the region welcomes the government, together with the rest of the EU, to the announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza, which, among other things, means that parts of the hostages are released and paves the way toward a more lasting end to the hostilities. It is now crucial that the agreement also contributes to alleviating the enormous suffering of the civilian population in Gaza and to improved humanitarian access. A ceasefire is also a prerequisite for progress regarding a negotiated two-state solution.
Regarding the situation on the ground, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is devastating, and the needs are acute, not least for many women and children. Against this background, the government recently decided to significantly increase the readiness for further support by allocating 800 million kronor to the crisis in Gaza and the region. We are therefore doubling the support to Gaza.
Under extremely challenging conditions on the ground, the government's focus is to alleviate the suffering of civilians in distress. Sweden will continuously review its humanitarian commitment and its partners to ensure that the Swedish support can truly reach those in need in the best possible way.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for further answers, even though I still haven't actually received any answer to my questions! Yes, partially perhaps I have. But I think it is remarkable that the Minister does not see that it is an influence campaign that Israel is carrying out here in Sweden. That a state actor finances false advertisements and in that way tries to influence the Swedish debate is a threat to our democracy. Can the Minister not see this?
We have seen such campaigns before, carried out by various states, such as Russia, Iran, China and others. When a state actor acts in this way and tries to influence our democracy, our debate and our decisions, it must have consequences.
Sweden's government cannot simply shrug its shoulders and look the other way when it is revealed that Israel is conducting these types of influence operations in Sweden. It is very serious. It is also obvious that the campaign has influenced the debate. The decision to completely withdraw the Swedish support is a clear example of that, I think.
DN has conducted a review showing that similar advertisements have been targeted at a number of other European countries. In Google's so-called ad archive, there are variants of advertisements in, among others, German and Spanish. In some languages, the advertisements also contain formulations stating that UNRWA must be replaced.
The sender of the advertisement is Israel's marketing department. It is therefore crystal clear that it is Israel that is the actor behind this. In the USA, the advertisements have also contained formulations stating that UNRWA cannot be separated from Hamas. The link to the advertisements in these and in the Swedish cases leads to a website operated by the Israeli state, where a number of false accusations against UNRWA are presented.
Israel's government accuses UNRWA of being infiltrated by Hamas, despite there being no evidence whatsoever for this after a thorough independent investigation has been conducted. At the same time, Hamas accuses UNRWA's leadership of cooperating with Israel and opposes the organization's efforts to promote human rights, including women's rights. The truth is that UNRWA is not a party to the conflict but one of many affected by it.
The goal of Israel's efforts is to discredit and potentially destroy UNRWA, to eliminate the Palestinian refugee status and unilaterally change the long-established parameters for a political solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The attack on UNRWA is an attack on the entire UN system and international law. It is deeply serious.
If Sweden is serious about standing up for a two-state solution, it must stand up for the UN system and international law, restore support for UNRWA, and ensure that there are consequences when the organization is discredited. No state actor must be allowed to conduct influence campaigns in our country - regardless of who it is - and in that way influence our democracy. Sweden's government cannot just shrug its shoulders and look the other way when it has been revealed that Israel is conducting influence operations in Sweden. It is obviously serious and must have consequences.
I still maintain that the Minister should summon Israel's ambassador and speak about this in a clear way.
Håkan Svenneling (V)
Madam Speaker! The Foreign Minister is trying to frame this as if she is for free media and that we in the opposition somehow are not. It is quite ironic considering that it is this government that has changed the media support, which has caused a number of newspapers to be closed down, including the liberal newspaper Nu, which has become a victim of its own government's policy.
I think we should call a spade a spade and an influence operation an influence operation. What the Israeli state has done against Swedish media to influence the Swedish debate meets all the criteria to be an influence operation.
I do not know if it is this—that the Foreign Minister does not want to use the word hybrid threat when she speaks—and that she starts thinking of hybrid cars when she hears the word—that prevents her from seeing what a threat is and what an influence operation is. This is exactly it. One deceives Swedish media houses with an advertisement. One gets it published for the purpose of influencing the debate with disinformation. All the criteria for an influence operation are present here.
The reason we compare with Russia, China and Iran is that we know that those actors have for many years conducted this type of campaigns against Sweden and that we therefore know how influence operations work. We have sanctions against these in many cases, but when it comes to the Israeli government, we cannot even manage to call the ambassador and point out the error in the Israeli state's actions.
The imbalance that this government reproduces over and over again becomes very clear. When there was a concern that aid organizations had some kind of connection to Hamas, one allowed the largest investigation that Sida has ever conducted to be carried out. They read 200,000 social media posts and found two or three that were possibly problematic. But when you receive two advertisements that are directly false in Swedish media from the Israeli state, you don't even manage to call the Israeli ambassador. It shows the government's failure to stand up to Israel and the government's failure to be able to support the organization UNRWA, which provides important education and healthcare to Palestinian refugees.
Jacob Risberg (MP)
Madam Speaker! Influence campaigns often have many different types of channels. The advertisements we have seen in Swedish media are only part of the whole. Of course, this also occurs in many other ways. We saw this directly when the Swedish government chose to scrap the support to UNRWA, quite quickly after the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023.
This also makes me wonder what the government bases its decisions on regarding UNRWA. When we read what the government says about UNRWA, we see that it is very good things. They even voted for the resolution in the UN General Assembly where UNRWA's mandate is strengthened and extended. At the same time, when they scrap the support for UNRWA, they say: We are now allocating 800 million kronor to humanitarian aid in Gaza. It is definitely very good that support is being provided there. It is very important. But it is not only Gaza that is affected by this.
UNRWA is active in the West Bank, in Jordan, in Syria and in Lebanon. There are over two million refugees in Jordan, over half a million refugees in Syria and just under half a million Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. They will be affected by Sweden's cuts to the support for UNRWA.
What one does and the information one takes in has consequences. I would like to know if the Foreign Minister can answer my questions. Are decisions regarding UNRWA based on information from Israel, which is a part of this conflict, or on the information that comes from the UN and the information that comes from the independent investigations that have been conducted regarding UNRWA? Should one base their decisions on long experience of all the good work that UNRWA has done? Is it Israel's information regarding UNRWA that guides the government, or is it the UN's information?
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Sweden has on several occasions criticized Israel for the decision to make it almost impossible for UNRWA to operate in Gaza. For the government, it is crucial that Swedish aid funds reach the civilian population as quickly and smoothly as possible. It is also for this reason that the government has significantly increased its readiness to pay out humanitarian aid by allocating 800 million for the response in the Gaza region. In this way, we in the government can also, in ongoing dialogue with our partners during the coming years, ensure that the Swedish support is designed in the best way to alleviate the suffering of distressed civilians and meet the enormous acute needs on the ground. The government is clear that the support must reach the suffering families and not get stuck along the way.
Now we see that as a result of the much-awaited ceasefire, the trucks have been able to start rolling into Gaza again. It is very pleasing. The government has been very clear towards Israel since the war broke out that humanitarian access must increase. We have been very clear in our expectations. We are equally clear with the requirement that civil infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law. This applies to all actors, and it is not permitted to use civil infrastructure, such as hospitals and schools, for military purposes.
Sweden is one of the largest humanitarian donors, globally speaking, and was the sixth largest in the world in 2023. For 2024, Swedish humanitarian aid amounted to 9.6 billion kronor, which includes allocations from both Sida and UD.
Sweden has, against the background of the crisis in Gaza, allocated over 630 million kronor since October 7, 2023. Sweden is also one of the largest donors of core funding to many of the central humanitarian actors operating in Gaza, not least the UN organizations.
The Swedish government stands by its commitment to continued humanitarian support to the region as a whole and not least the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. At the same time, Sweden continues to provide important long-term support, for example within the health sector, through its development cooperation, including in Palestine.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the further answer.
Sweden's government cannot shrug its shoulders and look the other way when it has been revealed that Israel conducted influence operations in Sweden - Israel has deliberately, with false accusations, attempted to influence public opinion and thus also our political decisions. This is obviously extremely serious. It must have consequences.
It is also obvious that the campaign has influenced the debate. It is clear that support for UNRWA has taken a significant hit, at least when it comes to the government parties. The decision to completely withdraw the Swedish support is a clear example of that.
I must nevertheless say that the government is acting extremely inconsistently regarding the support for UNRWA. In December, the minister stood behind the UN General Assembly's statement that UNRWA is indispensable. A few weeks later, they withdraw the support entirely. It is very inconsistent.
Back to Israel's operations in Sweden: The goal of Israel's efforts is therefore to discredit and potentially destroy UNRWA. They want to eliminate the Palestinians' refugee status and unilaterally change the long-established parameters for a political solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The attack on UNRWA is an attack on the entire UN system and the entirety of international law, which is incredibly serious. If Israel succeeds in this, the entire world order that has existed since the Second World War is in jeopardy, and it must be countered by all means.
If Sweden is serious about standing up for a two-state solution, it must stand up for the UN system and international law. Support for UNRWA must be reinstated and it must have consequences when the organization is discredited. No state actor must be allowed to conduct influence operations in our country. It must be clear.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Just as I have said, we have repeatedly criticized the decisions that have been initiated in the Knesset that UNRWA shall not be granted access to Gaza.
At the same time, we are incredibly concerned that the aid must reach its destination, and that is the background to why we have chosen to act as we have. We are increasing support, for example, to the World Food Programme, which is another immensely important UN actor in the region. We are trying to act in the best possible way to ensure that the aid actually reaches its destination.
However, that was not quite what this interpellation was about. If one submits an interpellation, one must assume that it is the questions in the interpellation that one receives answers to, and those are also the answers I have given.
In this case, it was about advertisements in Swedish media, and it would be very inappropriate if we as a government were to have views on that. It is part of the important free formation of opinion. Therefore, it is also not relevant for Sweden to summon Israel's ambassador on this occasion.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.