Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson makes a horrible gaffe by saying Israel “has right to genocide”

Ulf Kristersson, the Prime Minister of Sweden, committed a gaffe at a town hall event where he said that Israel has the right to engage in genocide. The statement was made in the presence of several pro-Palestinian protesters and caused much controversy.

At an event in Gothenburg on Wednesday (Nov 22), the PM appeared to have made a mistake while addressing a large crowd. However, he quickly corrected himself by stating that Israel "has the right to defend itself".

In the video, Kristersson can be heard saying, "Sweden and the EU stand united, Israel has the right to genoci…self-defence!"

At one point during the talk, Kristersson begins to talk about the Israel-Hamas conflict, but misspeaks as he attempts to say that Sweden and the EU are "united on that Israel has a right to defence, within the framework of international law".

However, instead of the word for "defence" (forsvar in Swedish), he first says "folk" before correcting himself.

Some in the crowd take this to mean that Kristersson was about to say "folkmord", or genocide, which also is similar to the word for international law -- folkratt.

"Does Israel have a right to genocide?" and "we heard it" members of the crowd can be heard shouting.

A member of the rowdy group called out to the prime minister, questioning, "Are they now allowed to commit genocide? Does Israel possess that right?" The Swedish leader took a momentary pause following his blunder. As the gathering continued, the demonstrators continuously disrupted and disapproved of the conservative politician, repeatedly chanting "Shame on you," for his firm support of Israel.

The authorities had to intervene and escort some individuals out of the location.