Israel took less than an hour to respond to the measures announced by Pedro Sánchez against the “genocide” and the “extermination” that, according to Sánchez, are being carried out by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu in the Gaza Strip. It did so through a statement from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who, faithful to the trend of the Jewish state, replied with greater bluntness and raising the tone in his response.
At the moment, the Israeli foreign minister announced the prohibition of entry into Israel for ministers Yolanda Díaz and Sira Rego and announced that he will raise the case to the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance), for it to assess Sánchez’s words. He also said something in that same statement that has passed almost unnoticed but that in the medium and long term could have importance: “It is no longer possible to avoid the imposition of personal sanctions on members of the Spanish government who have crossed any red line.”
What does the Israeli minister mean by “personal sanctions”? Is it only the entry ban into Israel, or does it go further? That is what the Spanish government is trying to elucidate now, which has summoned the Spanish ambassador in Tel Aviv for consultations. Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since 2023 when it pulled out its envoy after the Spanish government’s condemnation of the military attack in Gaza.
In a harsh statement, Gideon Sa’ar accuses President Sánchez of leading “a corrupt government” and points to his relationship with autocratic governments, from Iran to Venezuela. Then the minister commits a historical blunder and goes back to “Spain’s crimes against the Jewish people,” when Spain did not exist beyond the kingdoms of Castile and León and the Kingdom of Aragon.
In reality, the nine measures announced by Sánchez are nothing new: the arms embargo on Israel by law (in effect since October 2023) and the prohibition of entry into our country for those who participate in genocide, the prohibition of transit through Spanish ports to all ships carrying fuels destined for the Israeli armed forces, and the denial of “entry into Spanish airspace to all state aircraft transporting defense material destined for Israel.”
Furthermore, the importation of products originating from the illegal settlements in Gaza and the West Bank will not be permitted, with the aim of addressing these occupations, curbing the forcible displacement of Palestinian civilians, and keeping the two-state solution alive.
In this regard, consular services provided to Spanish citizens residing in the Israeli settlements will be limited to the legally required minimum assistance. Sánchez has also explained that Spanish personnel will be increased “in the European Union’s Border Assistance Mission in Rafah” and that new cooperation projects with the Palestinian Authority will be established in the areas of agriculture, food security, and medical assistance.
And in addition, the contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will be increased with an additional 10 million euros destined for aid to the Gazan population, as well as the humanitarian aid and cooperation budget for Gaza will be raised to reach 150 million euros by 2026.
GLOVE TAKEN UP BY ISRAEL
The glove was immediately taken up by the Israeli foreign minister, who stated that “the obsessive activism of the current Spanish government against Israel is surprising in the context of its ties with tyrannical and sinister governments, from the regime of Hetul in Iran to the government of Maduro in Venezuela.”
The Israeli blunder came later, when Gideon Sa’ar recalled the Spanish Inquisition and accused that “there is a surprising lack of historical awareness about Spain’s crimes against the Jewish people, including the crimes of the Inquisition, forced religious conversions, and the Expulsion of Spain: the complete ethnic cleansing of the Jews in the late 15th century.” In subsequent statements he insisted on what happened six centuries ago when “the deportation of all Jews from Spain in 1492 is one of the greatest ethnic cleansings,” though he forgot to say that those Jews were Castilians, Aragonese and Navarrese, in short Sephardim or from Sefarad, the Iberian Peninsula. Jews yes, not Israelis.
Gideon Sa’ar, who was traveling in Hungary, took the opportunity to compare Sánchez with French President Emmanuel Macron, both with “enormous internal problems.” And, as a closing remark to end the controversy: “If you are so eager to establish a Palestinian state, you have vast territories, like Spain and France. You can do it in your own territory,” omitting that the people of Gaza already live in their own territory.
YOLANDA DÍAZ DESCRIBED ISRAEL AS A GENOCIDAL STATE
The foreign minister also gave a chronology of the “leader of the extremist party Sumar,” referring to Vice President Yolanda Díaz, recalling when she described Israel as a “genocidal state,” something Sánchez repeated this Monday.
Sa’ar wraps up the statement warning that “he will inform his allies,” clearly referring to the United States, “about the hostile conduct of the Spanish government and the antisemitic and violent nature of his ministers’ statements” because “it is important that Israel’s allies around the world understand the dangerous nature of the current government in Spain.”
It should be recalled that the current crisis began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza, kidnapping, raping and murdering 766 Israeli civilians and 377 soldiers and police. Israel’s response did not wait, and since then the army’s offensive has displaced two million people and has caused a famine that has left tens of thousands of civilians dead, more than 64,000 according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
