The Swedish royal family has not visited Israel since the founding of the state – breaking the pattern for a Sweden that otherwise has extensive trade and other diplomatic relations with Israel. Behind the “boycott” of Israel lie deep historical wounds, as well as personal ones, dating back to the current Swedish king’s own godfather, Count Folke Bernadotte. The Count, who was a celebrated mediator in Sweden, was assassinated during an important UN mission by the Jewish paramilitary terrorist organization known in Hebrew as “Lohamei Herut Israel – Lehi” – translated into English as “Israel’s Freedom Fighters – Lehi”.
Bernadotte, a diplomat, had distinguished himself during World War II, gaining international recognition for his role in rescuing thousands of prisoners from German concentration camps on the “white buses” – many of them Jews. His achievements were considered by many authorities to be very impressive, and in 1948 he was considered a very suitable choice to become the UN mediator in the protracted conflict between Jews and Arabs.
Bernadotte’s peace proposal included a return to the partition plan previously proposed by the UN, whereby certain territories occupied by Jews in the area would be returned to the Arabs. The Swedish count’s proposal was based on the idea of two independent states, one Jewish and one Arab, where it was considered essential to quickly establish a cease-fire and ensure that hostilities would not resume in the future. It also focused on the right of displaced Arabs and Jews to return to their homes and that, if no agreement could be reached, the borders of the states would be decided by the UN itself.
Rejected by Jewish militants
While much of the outside world saw the proposal as sane and reasonable, militant Jewish radicals saw it as a threat to their ideas of a “Greater Israel”. The idea of returning some of the occupied territories to the Arabs was seen by them as totally unacceptable and something that had to be stopped at all costs.
Even some Arab militants who did not want a Jewish state in the region opposed the proposal – but it was mainly in Jewish extremist circles that the peacemaker Folke Bernadotte was portrayed as an existential threat to the Jewish people. It did not help that Bernadotte also advocated limiting Jewish immigration to Israel.
Before the establishment of Israel, Jewish terrorist groups and “underground militant networks” were common in the region. These terrorized not only the British, who controlled the Mandate of Palestine, but also Arab villages and sometimes other Jews who were considered too “moderate”.
One such group was the Lehi, whose stated goal was to “take over Israel by force”. In 1944, the group assassinated British Minister Lord Moyne, bombed British government and army buildings, and carried out a series of attacks on British and Arab targets both in the region and abroad, the massacre of 107 Palestinian villagers at Deir Yassin being perhaps one of the most famous.
Lehi decided that Folke Bernadotte should also be assassinated. In the eyes of the terrorist group, it was irrelevant that he advocated mediation, peace and consensus – Bernadotte was perceived as a threat to the group’s plans for Jewish supremacy in the region. The de facto leader of the terrorist group at the time was Yitshak Shamir, and the team that carried out the attack was led by Yehosha Zettler.
“Twisted by hatred”
On September 17, the perpetrators went into action, blocking the road in front of the diplomatic convoy in Jerusalem. Then 26-year-old Yehoshua Cohen steps forward and executes Folke Bernadotte and French soldier Andre Serot with several shots from a German 9 mm machine gun.
Major General Åge Lundström, who was sitting next to Serot on the left side of the car, described the terrorist’s expression as “twisted with hatred”. Bernadotte and Serot died suddenly from the shots and were later flown home in two white coffins to receive numerous posthumous honors for their efforts.
However, the murderers were never prosecuted or punished. Instead, the perpetrators were hailed as heroes in Zionist circles, and the few who were arrested were released almost immediately. The murderer, Yehoshua Cohen, eventually became the “unofficial bodyguard” and close friend of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion.
Terrorist members involved in the double assassination have also boasted about the deed on television and radio broadcasts. Yehoshua Zettler, who led the assassination squad, has never expressed remorse for killing Bernadotte.
– When we demonstrated in front of [Bernadotte] and told him, ‘Away from our Jerusalem, back to Stockholm,’ he didn’t answer, so we had no choice, he claimed in 1988.
Other Lehi members eventually rose to prominent positions in Israeli society – but none more so than the leader of the terror group, Yitzhak Shamir, who went on to become both Speaker of the House and Foreign Minister, and twice Prime Minister of Israel. The man who ordered the assassination of peacemaker Count Bernadotte became Israel’s supreme leader – most recently from 1986-1992.
No excuse
Shamir also escaped legal responsibility for the terrorist attack, and although the UN Security Council at the time dutifully condemned the murder as “a cowardly act which appears to have been committed by a criminal group of terrorists”, there was never any real political will in Israel to mete out punishment.
To date, Israel has not officially apologized for the murder, which is believed to be the main reason why Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf has never expressed interest in visiting Israel during his long reign. In the same context, Crown Princess Victoria’s decision to name her daughter “Estelle” – after Folke’s wife – has also been speculated to be a symbolic mark to honor the memory of the king’s godfather.
On several occasions, Israeli leaders have met the King in Sweden, but these visits have not been reciprocated. At the funeral of assassinated Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986, the king is reported to have said to Shimon Peres, then Prime Minister of Israel: “Let us not forget that Olof Palme was the second Swedish mediator in the Middle East to fall victim to an assassin’s bullets”.
Although not all Arabs viewed Bernadotte’s work positively at the time, the count seems to be remembered more fondly there than in Israel, where the West Bank city of Ramallah has a street named after him to commemorate his efforts to bring about a “just” settlement in the region.
Decorative ribbon named after terrorist group
Lehi was disbanded in 1948 under heavy pressure from the outside world and later officially classified as a terrorist organization. In practice, however, this did not pose much of a problem for those involved, who instead became involved in other political organizations, joined the army, or joined a more officially recognized intelligence organization. Some members also continued on a militant path, participating in assassinations of public figures deemed to be “traitors” to the Jewish people, such as the journalist Rudolf Kasztner in 1957.
It is clear that Israeli officials have looked favorably upon Lehi’s long list of bloody attacks. In 1980, for example, then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin established a military decoration ribbon named after the terrorist group – the “Lehi ribbon”.
Begin himself also had a background as a leader of the Jewish terrorist group Irgun, which also carried out attacks against a large number of British targets in the 1940s. After the establishment of the State of Israel, the Irgun terrorists were largely absorbed into the IDF, which is still Israel’s official military.
Swedish peace agency bears his name
For Sweden, Bernadotte’s memory may have faded somewhat after decades as perhaps the foremost symbol of humanitarian diplomacy. But the echo of his name and commitment lives on, not least through the Folke Bernadotte Academy, which works for peace, development and security under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Utrikesdepartementet – UD), and whose main focus is to resolve conflicts through diplomacy and negotiation – rather than arms and violence.
“As part of Sweden’s development assistance, we work to build peace in conflict-affected countries. We provide training, advice and research to support peace and state-building. We also contribute civilian personnel to peace operations and election observation missions, mainly led by the UN, EU and OSCE. We are named after Folke Bernadotte, the first UN peace mediator”, the agency says on its website.
