According to a written statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen conducted a phone call with his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billström, to prevent the action. During the call, Cohen emphasized that the burning of the Torah in Sweden could cause "serious harm to the relations between the two countries."
Expressing his shock at the announcement of the planned burning of the Torah in Sweden, Cohen told his Swedish counterpart that the threat to harm sacred books must be stopped. Cohen highlighted the expectation from the Swedish government to prevent this action that could harm the relations between the two countries.
Earlier, the Swedish state television SVT reported that a woman in her 50s had obtained permission from the police to burn the Torah in front of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm. The police had also mentioned that three other individuals would participate in the action.
In a previous incident on July 15, a Syrian Muslim named Ahmed Allush had obtained permission to burn the Bible and the Torah in front of Israel's Stockholm Embassy but chosen not to burn the sacred books, expressing his respect for them. Allush stated that his intention was to draw attention to the fact that "no sacred book should be burned".
