Swedish trade with Israel increased after the outbreak of war in Gaza

The famine and the destruction in Gaza has put boycotts and sanctions against Israel on the agenda. Sweden has recently fluctuated on several issues and is now initiator that the EU should impose sanctions against extremist ministers and settlers And also want to review the overall trade agreements.

But on the government’s website still states that Sweden works for increased trade with Israel – and so it has also been during the first year of the war shows Figures from Statistics Sweden.

Between 2023 and 2024, Swedish goods imports went up – from SEK 1.7 billion to SEK 2.3 billion.

Service imports from Israel also increased during the same year – from SEK 2.1 billion to SEK 3.3 billion.

The Swedes traded Thus, for a total of SEK 1.8 billion more from Israel during the year in which the war in Gaza went on for full force, than they did the year before when a relative peace prevailed all spring and summer. The rise in the total trade corresponds to almost 50 percent.

– It is remarkable and there are figures I had no idea, says Middle Eastern connoisseur and political scientist Anders Persson at Linnaeus University.

He generally thinks that the discussion about Swedish trade with Israel has often ended up in the cloud.

– It has been under the radar for many years and I actually think it has fit, not only the incumbent government, but also before. But especially from a bourgeois point of view, you are uninterested in raising these issues.

Why?

– No, I don’t think you earn it politically.

From the consumer perspective, Anders Persson is more puzzled that boycotts have not become a bigger issue during this war.

-20 years ago there was a lot of talk about not buying soda streams from Israel, but now maybe it is not as easily identifiable? The demonstrations in support of Palestine are among the largest popular movements we have seen in Sweden during modern times, especially in terms of endurance and geographical spread. Still, these requirements have not been increased, says Anders Persson.

For his colleague In Gothenburg, Professor Helena Lindholm, the figures were also a news.

– I did not know the increase, but it is interesting. You may think that it should be the opposite, says Lindholm, who teaches Middle East studies and international relationships.

The only factor in trade statistics that has decreased after the outbreak of war is goods exports, but Sweden still sells paper, industrial cooling systems and vehicles for several billion a year to Israel.

And a single category of goods exports stands out – and increases – military equipment. According to the code from the ISP- it is the inspection for strategic products- on fire management, monitoring and warning systems, as well as visibility.

In absolute terms, there are no remarkable sums, but the percentage increase after the outbreak is large. This is evident from the government’s annual reports.

According to ISP has the permits For military equipment exports given for consequential deliveries to private companies in Israel and in 2022, exports amounted to SEK 4.7 million. By 2023, the figure was significantly higher – 17.6 million – and in 2024 exports of military equipment amounted to SEK 21.4 million. Almost five times as much as before the war.

– Although it is a comparatively small sum, it can be very important. If this is equipment that is directly used in a warfare where there are allegations of genocide and war crimes, then I think it is serious, says Professor Helena Lindholm.

Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Sipri, says that one must be careful about how to interpret the military equipment exports. It is surrounded by confidentiality and many information remains confidential. This exports could, for example, be about Swedish components sent to Israel to be mounted in systems which are then sent back to Sweden.

– But Sweden buys military equipment from them helps Israel keep going and afford the weapons industry that provides the Israeli military with weapons and ammunition, says Wezeman.

On October 25 2023, at the initial stage of the war, Sweden signed an agreement with Israeli Elbit on extensive SEK 1.7 billion. It is about Elbit that for ten years is responsible for the Swedish army’s construction of a comprehensive communication system.