The Diplomat
The Spanish government yesterday “categorically” rejected the statements of the Israeli Minister of Finance, the far-right Bezalel Smotrich, in which he denied the existence of the Palestinian people, and warned that these words “harm” the efforts “to reduce tension and to deepen the dialogue between the parties”. Last March 20, the Minister declared in Paris that the Palestinian people is an invention “of some Arabs of the region to fight against the Zionist movement” and, therefore, “there is no Palestinian nation”. The statements were made in front of a map of Greater Israel, which includes Jordan.
In the same statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed “the commitments made by Israel and Palestine in their recent meetings in Aqaba (February 26) and Sharm El Sheikh (March 19), with the participation of the United States, Egypt and Jordan, which include an agreement to stop the construction of settlements and to avoid unilateral measures and the escalation of violence”.
The Government also regretted “the partial abrogation of the Israeli Law in relation to the 2005 disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank.” “The implementation of previous agreements is key to achieving peace, through the materialization of the two-state solution and mutual recognition among all countries in the region on this same basis,” it continued. “This is the only possible response to the legitimate national aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis,” it concluded.
