Danish PM Frederiksen: Netanyahu has become a problem for Israel

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem” for the State of Israel and for international efforts to secure a diplomatic solution to the war in Gaza.

“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told the Danish news outlet Jylland-Posten. She described the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip as “absolutely appalling and catastrophic.”

While affirming Israel’s right to self-defense after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Danish prime minister said that, like many Western leaders, she believes Israel has gone “too far” in its military operations in Gaza.

Frederiksen’s remarks are noteworthy because Denmark has long been one of Israel’s strongest supporters, both before and after the Oct. 7 attack.

However, Frederiksen revealed that her government has lost patience with Netanyahu and is joining a growing number of European Union member states seeking to increase diplomatic pressure on Israel.

“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she stated, adding that she is considering various measures, including “political pressure, sanctions –whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”

“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect,” Frederiksen stated.

The Danish leader argued that she believes that Israel would currently be better off with a new prime minister but stressed that it was up to the Israeli people to decide in an election.

She also condemned Israeli settler violence and criticized Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s recently announced plan to build some 3,000 new housing units in the E1 area of Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank. The area is considered politically sensitive because many observers argue that such construction would threaten the territorial continuity of a potential future Palestinian state.

Unlike its Scandinavian neighbors, Sweden and Norway, Denmark has so far refrained from recognizing a “Palestinian state.” Frederiksen has stated that Denmark would not “reward” Hamas as the terror group still controls a significant part of Gaza.

Frederiksen emphasized that despite political disagreements with the Netanyahu government, Copenhagen is still committed to Israel's security and well-being.

In May 2024, the Danish Parliament overwhelmingly voted against recognizing a “Palestinian state.”

"We cannot recognize an independent Palestinian state, for the sole reason that the preconditions are not really there," [Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke] Rasmussen said, noting that the Palestinian Authority does not meet the universal criteria of statehood, including effective control over territory and clearly defined borders.

“We cannot support this resolution, but we wish that there will come a day where we can,” the foreign minister added.