Conservative Swedish FM Carl Bildt likens Netanyahu to Hamas

"It is possible to make peace without Hamas the same way it is possible to make peace without Netanyahu on the Israeli side." (Swedish FM)

"He clearly does not understand the difference between the leader of an Israeli political party and a group that is engaging in the terror that threatens Europe as much as Israel." (Israeli Foreign Ministry official)

Carl Bildt's contemptuous declaration about an Israeli politician gives the lie to the belief that only the Left is anti-Israel. He is a member of the Swedish ruling conservative party.

Source: article by Gil Hoffman in the JPost (April 10, 2008)

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt angered Israeli diplomatic officials Wednesday when he made a direct comparison between Hamas and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

In an interview with a Swedish radio station, Bildt was asked how it was possible for Israel to make peace with the Palestinians while Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip.

"It is possible to make peace without Hamas the same way it is possible to make peace without Netanyahu on the Israeli side," Bildt said.

Israeli diplomatic officials called the comparison "chutzpah" and said that Bildt had a long history of making pro-Palestinian statements.

"It is a horrible and stupid statement that displays complete ignorance about the Middle East," a Foreign Ministry official told The Jerusalem Post. "He clearly does not understand the difference between the leader of an Israeli political party and a group that is engaging in the terror that threatens Europe as much as Israel."

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