The Swedish Institute—a state organization funded by Sweden's government—has blocked the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Twitter account along with 14,000 others allegedly for offensive content while, notably, leaving the Twitter accounts belonging to Saudi Arabia and Iran untouched.
The institute blocked tens of thousands of accounts it considers to be extremist, racist, inciting, and homophobic. Surprisingly, even the personal Twitter account of the Israeli Ambassador to Sweden, Isaac Bachman, was blocked in addition to that of the foreign ministry.
Following the incident, Ambassador Bachman Tweeted, "Now that the Foreign Ministry and the Embassy have been blocked, Sweden is much safer to read Iran's Twitter and others that haven't been blocked. Please, convince me this isn't real and sane."
Israel's standing in Swedish public opinion has never been as poor as it has been in the last few years, with members of the Swedish left refusing to even meet Ambassador Bachman, while willing to hold dialogue with Hamas.
In Israel, Sweden's hostility is explained as being related to anti-Semitic elements and appeasement to the Muslim voice in local politics.
Israel and Sweden have both engaged in high-level political spats in recent years, most notably with Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallström, who claimed that Israeli responses to terrorist attacks constitute "extra-judicial execution "and that the Paris terror attacks are linked to Palestinian desperation .
Spats between the two countries are not exclusive to Wallström however, as Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven also raised ire in Israel when he claimed that Palestinian stabbing attacks are not terrorism .
(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)