A diplomatic row between Sweden and Israel deepened in Jerusalem Monday over a Swedish newspaper article, which alleges that Israeli soldiers harvested organs from Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers.
The article in the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet last week implied, without evidence, that there was a link between charges of organ theft from Palestinians and the recent arrest in the U.S. of an American Jew suspected of illicit organ trafficking.
The article unleashed an avalanche of condemnations in the Israeli media with accusations of anti-Semitism and commentators and politicians comparing the article to medieval accusations that Jews killed Christian children for their blood.
On Monday, the paper published an editorial denying Israeli claims. "I'm not a Nazi," Aftonbladet editor Jan Helin wrote. "I'm not anti-Semitic."
Rather than an apology, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is demanding the Swedish government condemn the article.
However, Sweden is resisting the demand, citing freedom of speech. The refusal has launched an online petition calling for a boycott of Swedish furniture chain Ikea's Israeli branch, which claimed to log more than 4,600 names.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said that if Sweden continued its refusal to condemn the Aftonbladet story, Israel might cancel a visit by Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt scheduled for next month.
Sweden currently holds the European Union presidency.
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