A lawyer has sued the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet in New York following its article accusing Israeli soldiers of smuggling dead Palestinians' organs.

The Israeli lawyer Guy Ophir has submitted a civil action to the New York State Supreme Court, the TT news wire wrote.

He’s claiming $7.5 million in damages against Aftonbladet because of the harm the tabloid has caused Jews and Israelis, himself included, he wrote in his writ.

Last week Israel complained to Sweden over what it called a anti-Semitic "blood libel" by the Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet that claimed Israeli soldiers killed Palestinians in order to sell their organs. Guy Ophir said the newspaper's story had had ill intentions and is hateful against Jews.

Sweden's fervent defence of free speech has sparked a diplomatic storm with Israel over the government's refusal to condemn the article.

The row is likely to overshadow a visit to Israel by Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt next month, right in the midst of Sweden's presidency of the European Union, a key player in the Middle East peace process.

Many ordinary Swedes back the government's stance of not condemning the piece by Aftonbladet, the country's top-selling daily, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

In an online poll answered by 24,000 readers of the national daily Svenska Dagbladet since Sunday, 65 percent said they backed the position taken by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's centre-right government.

Israel has urged the Swedish government to condemn the "anti-Semitic" article, which claimed that Israeli soldiers snatched Palestinian youths to steal their organs and returned their dismembered bodies days later.

"We are not asking the Swedish government for an apology, we are asking for their condemnation," a senior official quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as telling ministers during a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.