In response, Israel accuses Madrid of conducting an ‘anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic campaign’; Spanish government is one of the most critical European voices to Israeli actions
And they exchanged new accusations on Monday (8), after the president of the Spanish government, announced measures “to stop the genocide in” and Israel responded by denouncing an “anti-ehemite and anti-Semitic campaign” by Madrid. The Spanish government is one of the most critical European voices to Israeli actions in Gaza and often exchanged accusations with Israel, which has not been ambassador in Madrid since the Sánchez government recognized the state of May 2024.
The measures are “another step… to stop genocide in Gaza, pursue their authors and support the Palestinian population,” said the socialist leader at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid.
Sánchez announced a series of measures on Monday, including an embargo of arms to Israel, the ban on entering Spanish airspace to aircraft “that carry Israeli’s defense material” and the ban on Spanish ports of ships that carry fuel to the Israeli army.
Among the measures that will be implemented “immediately”, Sánchez highlighted a law that “legally consolidates the arms embargo to Israel, which we actually apply since October 2023”.
They also include the prohibition of entry into the territory of people “who participate directly in genocide”, the ban on the entry of products “from illegal settlements in Gaza and the West Bank” and the limitation of Spanish consulting services to people residing in these settlements.
Finally, Spain will increase its aid to Palestinians and the Palestinian Refugees Agency (Unrwa), Sánchez added. “We know that all these measures will not be enough to prevent invasion or war crimes, but we hope they will serve to increase the pressure” about the government of and “relieve part of the suffering that the Palestinian population faces,” the leftist leader continued.
‘Anti-Israeli Campaign’
Immediately afterwards, Isrel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded with a long message on the X network, in which he accused the Spanish government of locking “an anti-Israeli and sustained anti-Semitic campaign” to “divert the attention of serious corruption scandals.”
The minister referred to the legal issues surrounding Sánchez, such as the investigation of a bribery case in exchange for public works against two of his former collaborators, his former vice-president Santos Cerdán and his former Minister of Transport, José Luis Abalas.
Sánchez was also weakened by judicial investigations against his wife, brother and state attorney-general appointed by his government.
The Israeli minister stated that, as a sanction, his government will ban the entry into Israel of the vice president and Minister of Labor of Spain, Yolanda Díaz, as well as the Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, of Palestinian origin. “It is a source of pride that a state that commits genocide forbids us entry,” said Yolanda Diaz on the Bluesky network.
The latest diplomatic dispute coincides with death in East Jerusalem of a young Spanish young man who had recently emigrated to Israel, one of the six fatal victims of a perpetrated shot attack, police said by two Palestinian attackers at a bus stop on Monday morning.
The terrorist group’s attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the current conflict, killed 1,219 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to a count of AFP based on official data.
The Israeli reprisals caused at least 64,300 deaths in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, whose data is considered reliable by.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Nicolas Robert
