Swedish-Israeli Lieutenant Colonel and lobbyist Jonathan Conricus confirms that the "Jewish lobby" has a lot of influence in the US and hopes that pro-Israeli voices will soon be able to persuade American politicians to go to war with Iran.
– Swedes do not understand that there are Jews who are organized, who take initiatives, who dare, who have power and use it, he explains.
Born in Jerusalem in 1978 to an Israeli mother and Swedish father, Jonathan Conricus grew up in Malmö, Sweden, where he lived for 13 years before the family returned to Israel in the early 1990s. At the age of 18, he began his mandatory military service and remained in the Israeli army until 2021, where he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel over the years. In his final years, he also worked as a military spokesman.
When Hamas attacked Israel last fall, Conricus was called back into the army and served as a spokesman again for a few months. Now, however, he lives in New York and works for the lobby group Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which says it aims to "provide education to enhance Israel's image in North America and the public's understanding of issues affecting Israeli-Arab relations".
"They're in New York"
In an interview with Dagens Nyheter, owned by Bonnier, he speaks openly about the influence of the Israeli lobby, using the term "Jewish lobby" to describe AIPAC and similar organizations. He believes the differences between the US and Sweden are vast.
– There is no Jewish lobby in Sweden. Swedes are not used to Jews having power, standing up straight, looking people in the eye and saying: I decide here. Swedes are not used to such Jews.
– But they are here. Especially in New York. Swedes do not understand that there are Jews who organize themselves, who take initiatives, who dare, who have power and use it, he continues.
Iran - "the real show"
Conricus hopes that more people will have the opportunity to attend the pro-Israel conferences in the US to see for themselves how much influence the lobby groups have on the country's politicians.
– I wish more people could attend the AIPAC policy conference and see American politicians stand up in front of 18,000 people and explain the importance of the American-Israeli relationship.
He also hopes that the Israel lobby can convince U.S. leaders to actually go to war with Iran, which he describes as "the real show" while the invasion of Gaza is just a "side show".
– The problem is that Iran uses proxies as its main foreign policy weapon. Both Israel and the US, perhaps Israel less so, respond to the proxies instead of attacking Iran. We keep messing with the little kids instead of taking care of Daddy, stresses the lobbyist, who believes that American support for Israel remains very strong.
"No one is demanding responsibility from the Palestinians"
Conricus doesn't want to return to Sweden and Malmö any time soon - because he believes that "hatred of Israel" is growing. As for the high number of civilian deaths in Gaza, he says the civilians themselves are responsible, since Israel "repeatedly asked them to evacuate".
– Nevertheless, they chose to stay. But as usual in the Swedish media, no one demands responsibility from the Palestinians. No one says: you were warned, why don't you move?
Exactly where the displaced Palestinian civilians should have moved to is not clear from the interview. In the past, the Israeli military has repeatedly besieged and bombed so-called "safe zones" to which the population has recently been urged to flee.
