The Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (Försvarets materielverk) is considering purchasing the Israeli Hero patrol robot – a robot that has already been purchased by several other NATO countries.
However, the leader of the Left Party, Nooshi Dadgostar, has expressed reservations and believes that Sweden should consider a broader range of options beyond just a boycott of Israeli weapons, including a review of all forms of military cooperation.
The robot can be carried in a backpack and launched from the ground, where it is controlled by a handheld controller with a built-in screen and can circulate until the intended target becomes visible.
However, the Left Party and the Green Party believes that Sweden should not purchase any military equipment from Israel. Håkan Svenneling, the Left Party’s foreign policy spokesman, has expressed concern that such a procurement could lead “a deepening between Sweden and Israel in the military field”, a prospect that the party oppose.
The MPs are also “strongly critical of the fact that the purchase of military equipment from Israel is being considered”.
“Trampling international law”
Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar goes even further, calling for an end to all military cooperation with Israel.
“No one should even consider buying arms from Israel while trampling international law. Every day more innocent people are killed in Gaza and more children are forced to search for their parents in the ruins”, she wrote in a post on X.
Avsluta alla militära samarbeten med Israel. Ingen borde ens fundera på att köpa vapen av Israel samtidigt som de trampar på internationell rätt. Varje dag dödas fler oskyldiga människor i Gaza och fler barn tvingas leta efter sina föräldrar i ruinerna.https://t.co/LTvHxebY60
— Nooshi Dadgostar (@dadgostarnooshi) September 10, 2024
It should be noted that the Left Party has long been criticized from bourgeois and pro-Israeli quarters for not distancing itself clearly enough from Hamas or other militant Palestinian groups. Some of its representatives have also been accused of having close ties to militant and “extremist” Palestinian circles.
The party’s official position is that it condemns “all attacks against civilians and human rights violations” and that “the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem is contrary to international law and must end”.
