Jewish groups warn against politicising antisemitism in election debate

Jewish representatives have criticised the use of antisemitism as a political weapon in Sweden’s election campaign, SVT reports.

“We do not want to be used as a tool to smear others,” said Naomi Manderman of the Jewish Youth Association.

The criticism came as Liberal Party leader Simona Mohamsson wore a Star of David during an Expressen party leaders’ debate. She said the symbol showed solidarity with Jews, while also marking her opposition to the Left Party.

On the same day that the Liberals presented new proposals to combat antisemitism, Sweden’s Security Service announced that it had opened an investigation into threats against Mohamsson following a post on X.

Aron Verständig, chair of the Jewish Central Council, said many Jews appreciated Mohamsson’s gesture of solidarity. At the same time, he said antisemitism was increasingly being politicised.

“Accusations of antisemitism are sometimes used to strike opponents over the head. Since October 7, antisemitism has become another tool in the arsenal that politicians can use against their opponents. That is unfortunate,” Verständig said.

Mohamsson is not the only politician to have raised antisemitism during the campaign. The Sweden Democrats recently shared a clip of party leader Jimmie Åkesson posing with the Jewish Youth Association’s book @Stoltjude while talking about “fighting Islamism”.

The association said the Sweden Democrats were using “Jews as political weapons to demonise other minorities”.

“The Sweden Democrats are a party with a history of hostility towards foreigners and minorities. It is therefore important for us, as representatives of a group that has been highly exposed, to speak out when other groups are marginalised and demonised,” said Manderman, the association’s chair.

She said Jewish organisations had long warned that antisemitism was being used as a weapon in political debate.

“It does not help us when politicians at the highest level publicly trade insults over which party has the biggest internal problems with antisemitism,” Manderman said. “We should be able to expect more from our politicians. We are tired of our vulnerability being exploited for other people’s political goals.”

Responding to the criticism, Mohamsson pointed to the policy proposals presented by the Liberals.

“The Jewish Youth Association is absolutely right. They should expect Swedish society to have their backs. As a politician, you should use your platform, but you should also present political proposals, and I have done that today,” she said.

The Sweden Democrats and Jimmie Åkesson declined to comment.