At the direction of the Foreign Minister, Norwegian Ambassador to Israel Per Egil Selvaag was summoned on Monday for a sharp reprimand following the Norwegian Prime Minister’s participation in a Kristallnacht memorial event organized by anti-Israel groups.
Among the organizations behind the event were the Norwegian Center Against Racism, the Norwegian Committee for Palestine, and the Action Group for Palestine.
The Foreign Ministry lodged a strong protest over the Prime Minister’s attendance, noting that the leadership of Norway’s Jewish community had explicitly urged him not to participate, warning that the event could serve as a platform for promoting antisemitism.
“This action reflects deep insensitivity and a severe moral distortion, as a memorial for Kristallnacht is exploited to promote an anti-Israel narrative,” the ministry said.
Yossi Amrani, Head of the Political Directorate at the Foreign Ministry, told the ambassador that Norway’s government policy toward Israel fuels antisemitism in the country, and condemned the Prime Minister’s decision to attend the event.
Amrani stated that the ceremony “distorted Holocaust remembrance and turned the Kristallnacht anniversary into a propaganda tool against the Jewish state, its citizens, and the Jewish people as a whole.”
The ministry emphasized, “Israel expects European countries to demonstrate moral integrity, reject all forms of antisemitism, oppose historical distortion, and stand firmly against attempts to criminalize or delegitimize the State of Israel.”