Gry Larsen, the leader of Young Labour and political advisor of Jonas Gahr Støre, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, is no longer in favour of boycotting Israel, though earlier she had said she was. Young Labour, on the other hand, still supports a consumer boycott of Israel, but also supports Larsen. The same is true for the Norwegian Minister of Finance, Kristin Halvorsen, leader of the Socialist Left Party (SV). Halvorsen’s party supports a boycott of Israel, and so does Halvorsen personally, but not in her capacity as a member of the government.

Gahr Støre said yesterday that he did not want to comment on the views of his advisor. The latter could not comment as she was… in Antarctica. Nevertheless the Norwegian tabloid VG succeeded in contacting her. Larsen said that while visiting Ramallah and Jerusalem with Gahr Støre recently she realised that a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians is still possible. The fact that her organisation thinks otherwise is no problem to her. The newspaper Helgelands Blad points out that both Halvorsen and Larsen are capable of quickly changing their minds when that is the prerequisite for remaining in the government.