A court in Sweden ruled that a Palestinian man found guilty of throwing a Molotov cocktail at a synagogue cannot be deported to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, prompting a sharp rebuke from Israel.

The Court of Appeal for Western Sweden ruled that Feras Alnadim's “fundamental human rights” would be threatened because he would be at risk of reprisals.

The court cited Israel’s “potential interest in the case” and “the insecure situation at the border and in the territory”.

Alnadim, 22, was sentenced to two years in prison in June, as one of three men, two Palestinian and one Syrian, found guilty of firebombing a synagogue in Gothenburg on December 9.

Some 20 Jewish teenagers were celebrating together in the building when the firebomb was thrown, but no one was injured. The three men were identified from security camera footage and arrested shortly afterwards.

In its judgement, the appeal court said that as the attack had taken place only a few days after Donald Trump, the US president, announced the US embassy’s move to Jerusalem, saying it was clearly “intended as a revenge attack against Israel”.

It could also, it ruled, be considered “a serious political crime directed at other Jews”.