Sweden

Stockholm, October 7, 2026. On the third anniversary of the Hamas attack, the Swedish press articulates two registers: the mourning of a traumatized country and the political battle that opens three weeks before the October 27 elections.

Expressen describes ceremonies organized throughout Israel "in memory of the victims of the massive Hamas terrorist attack." The daily gives the floor to Ron Segev, 41, a survivor of the Nova festival: "I thought we were going to die, but, miraculously, the attackers didn't see us." He says he has only just come out of depression, panic attacks, and sleep disorders a year ago. In Svenska Dagbladet, writer Lizzie Scheja, from the Judisk Kultur i Sverige association, recounts how the hatred that appeared after October 7 "overwhelmed" the Swedish Jewish community, and mentions the Göteborg Book Fair, which took place a week before the attack.

The heart of the coverage lies in a dispatch taken up by Expressen, Aftonbladet, and SvD, "Three years after October 7: Israelis are waiting for answers." More than half of the Israelis surveyed want an independent state commission; in July, the Parliament adopted a law instituting a politically appointed investigation. Netanyahu refused the independent commission, and the group of close associates The October Council considers this law to be made "to bury the truth." Anders Persson, a Middle East specialist at Linné University, estimates that the Prime Minister "probably fears the conclusions"; Isabell Schierenbeck, a professor at the University of Göteborg, mentions 60 to 80% of the population in favor of an independent investigation and "enormous anger," including among the inhabitants of the north who were evacuated.

The daily SvD also publishes an editorial by David Stavrou, who sees the election as a "fight for the soul of Israel." He presents Netanyahu, a candidate for a seventh term, as a tactician who has dominated for three decades: his critics attribute to him the goal of political survival and link his calculations to the corruption trial, which has been open for six years; his supporters praise a long-term vision, notably the refusal of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu, who considers the proceedings to be political, will be 77 years old a few days before the vote.

The Swedish press pool focuses on memory, political responsibility, and investigation. The war in Gaza and the Palestinian toll do not appear in these texts, nor do diplomatic reactions abroad.