Israeli Foreign Ministry reprimanded on Monday the Swedish ambassador over Stockholm's decision to recognize a Palestinian state.

The Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Ministry Aviv Shir-On summoned Ambassador Carl Magnus Nesser to his chamber in Jerusalem and expressed his "concern and disappointment" at the move.

On Friday, Sweden's newly-elected Prime Minister Stefan Lofven pledged on his inaugural address to the parliament that "Sweden will recognize the State of Palestine."

Shir-On warned that this statement "damages the relationship" between Israel and the Palestinians.

He added such moves "reduces the chance of reaching an agreement because it creates the unrealistic anticipation that the Palestinians will be able to achieve their goal unilaterally rather than by negotiations with Israel."

Israel opposes the Palestinian attempts to achieve their promised state through declarations of recognition by international bodies such as the United Nations, and insist that only direct negotiations would end the conflict between the two.

Shir-On called Lofven's decision "puzzling" and "misplaced," given "the atrocities" that are taking place daily in many countries in the region. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also denounced Lofven's statement.

Earlier on Monday, the Swedish ambassador told Israel's Army Radio that the remark was intended to jumpstart the stalled peace talks.

"Israel and Sweden have a strong relationship, and that the new government has been very clear that it wants it to continue." He said that was the message he took to the ministry.

"The situation is clear, peace talks have been suspended for a while, and I think the conflict in Gaza made it clear that the status-quo needs to be changed," Nesser said, adding "the purpose of such a statement of this forthcoming recognition is of course to support negotiations leading to a two-state solution."

Israel fears that other major European countries will follow Sweden to recognize a Palestinian state.

The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with its capital in East Jerusalem. Israel captured these territories in the 1967 Middle East war.

Over the past years, several rounds of US-brokered negotiations have reached nothing but a deadlock due to the Israeli construction in the Jewish settlements, which are illegal according to international law.