“If we are to be able to fully support economic development, then we cannot have corruption at such a level as exists in ‘Palestine,’” Linde told Radio Sweden following her visit to Israel and the PA.

Sweden’s foreign minister visited Israel this week in an effort to mend ties after years in which the two countries have been at odds over the conflict with the Palestinians. The two spoke by phone last month in the first call between their countries’ top diplomats in seven years.

Sweden’s Social Democratic-led government recognized Palestinian statehood in 2014, making it the first large European country to do so since the end of the Cold War. Margot Wallstrom, the country’s former foreign minister, had made offensive statements against Israel, angering Israeli officials who refused to meet with her when she landed in the country in 2016.

Relations have changed since Wallstrom’s departure.

“This official visit marks a new beginning in the relationship between Israel and Sweden,” Foreign Minister Ann Linde stated upon her arrival in Israel on Sunday.

“We might not always agree, but good friends disagree,” she stated at a press conference in Jerusalem with her Israeli counterpart Monday. “And I think it’s really, really important that you know that Sweden is a friend of Israel.”

On Wednesday, following her visit this week to Jerusalem and Ramallah, she told Radio Sweden, “If we are to be able to fully support economic development, then we cannot have corruption at such a level as exists in ‘Palestine,’” Arutz-7 reported.