Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has not advanced on Thursday morning measures against Israel for, which has already led to the retention of at least 30 Spanish citizens. In an interview in he has not detailed that they are going to retaliate for a gesture against activists who were not committing any crime, who were in civil ships and international waters.
Albares has made an intense defense of the flotilla and its mission, but without specifying steps in protest for its current situation. He has indicated that he has summoned for this morning in Madrid, Dana Erlich, who in the absence of ambassador is the highest official of the Benjamin Netanyahu government in our country. The minister expects, then, to convey his complaint. He confirms that there have been contacts with the Israeli authorities in the next few hours, but without clarifying more.
The diplomat, in his interview, has defended that the Spaniards should be “retained” by Israel, not detained, because they have not committed crimes, so they should be released immediately and should not be accused of anything since they did not represent any threat.
As explained by the minister, at the moment they do not have concrete data on the number of Spaniards who have already been intercepted – 65 Spaniards travel – but they do have evidence that a first group has already reached port, where the consul is directed and the interior manager of the embassy, along with another civil guard, to be able to pay them attention.
Albares has insisted that the members of the flotilla “did not represent any threat or had any spirit of harassment, to perform any type of illegal action and therefore I understand that they should not be accused of absolutely anything.”
In this sense, he stressed that his priority at the moment is that they can recover the freedom of movements that they should not have lost, since they exercised their right of innocent passage in international waters, and can return to Spain “immediately.” “I will not accept any unfair and unfounded accusation towards them,” he concludes.
