Svein Reidar Sevje (born 29 October 1948) is a Norwegian diplomat, particularly known for his work in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. A few months after the

Six Day war The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

Sevje volunteered in the Israeli

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Mishmar HaEmek Mishmar HaEmek ( he, מִשְׁמַר הָעֵמֶק, . "Guard of the Valley") is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Megiddo Regional Council. Mishmar HaEmek is one of th ...

, and later joined a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

school. He is a trained historian, and graduated in 1977 from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top univers ...

. Working for the Norwegian Foreign Service for several years, Sevje advanced in 1992 to become assistant secretary. He then headed the Foreign Ministry's Africa section from 1993-1994, and the Middle East section from 1998-2002. He was stationed in Israel during the Norwegian role in subsequent deals regarding the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

known as "Oslo 2", and earlier in 1995 was the first diplomatic representative of Norway to

The Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

. Sevje has since served as an ambassador in Syria and Lebanon from 2006 to 2008, and was a special envoy to the Middle East. Sevje was ambassador in Damascus after the Norwegian Embassy was burned by protestors in February 2006, in response to the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy The ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, da, Muhammedkrisen) began after the Danish newspaper '' Jyllands-Posten'' published 12 editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005, most of which depicted Muhamm ...

. From 2008, Sevje was ambassador to Sudan, until being appointed ambassador to Israel by the Council of State on 9 April 2010. In 2011, Sevje was involved in controversy when, in the context of the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway perpetrated by

Anders Behring Breivik Fjotolf Hansen (born 13 February 1979), better known by his birth name Anders Behring Breivik () and by his pseudonym Andrew Berwick, is a Norwegian far-right domestic terrorist, known for committing the 2011 Norway attacks on 22 July 2011. On ...

, he stated, talking the first person plural, that Norwegians consider Israeli occupation to be the cause of Palestinian terror, coming out of a wish for revenge, with an added religious element; and that a solution cannot be reached between Israel and the Palestinians without engaging the

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

organization. In 2009, Sevje was appointed a Knight of the 1st Class, and Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livi ...

H.M. for civil merit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sevje, Svein 1948 births Living people University of Oslo alumni Norwegian civil servants Ambassadors of Norway to Syria Ambassadors of Norway to Lebanon Ambassadors of Norway to Sudan Ambassadors of Norway to Israel Kibbutzniks