The Diplomat
The second vice-president of the acting government and leader of Sumar, Yolanda Diaz, yesterday called on the government to recall the Spanish ambassador to Israel, Ana Salomon, for consultations as a means of putting pressure on the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
During his speech at the meeting of the plurinational parliamentary group in Congress, she urged his party’s deputies to act as “loudspeakers” for what is currently happening in Palestine, where more than 12,000 people have died, including thousands of children who have been “murdered” by the Israeli army.
Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas, Díaz has repeatedly criticised Israeli actions as “apartheid”, adding that he condemned violence “wherever it comes from”, referring to attacks by the Palestinian terrorist group.
Yesterday, she called for economic sanctions against Israel and an embargo on arms sales to Israel to increase international pressure for a ceasefire in the face of the offensive in the Gaza Strip.
“We cannot let this barbarity pass”, she said, adding that human rights “must be complied with and that the challenge is to get the EU’s position on the conflict to change, increasing diplomatic pressure on Israel until the bombing of the Palestinian civilian population ceases.
After indicating that “the ambassador in Tel Aviv should be recalled for consultations, she wondered why this is not done with Israel but is done with other nations when human rights violations occur.
She therefore proposes that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs adopt the same measure as the governments of Chile and Colombia, which recalled their diplomatic representatives in Israel for consultations in protest at the actions of the Israeli army in Gaza.
Díaz also called on his MEPs to work to achieve this goal through proposals in parliamentary committees, given that Sumar’s role in this task should be “important”.
Previously, the state co-spokesperson for Podemos, Pablo Fernández, said at a press conference that the “inaction and passivity of the international community and the European Union is shameful and painful”.
After indicating that Spain and Europe “have to do much more”, he described the role of Sánchez and the PSOE as “especially painful”, given that it holds the Presidency of the Council of Europe and cannot – he said – “remain impassive in the face of a genocide of such magnitude” with the Palestinian people.
The leader of Podemos insisted that Spain should break off diplomatic relations with Israel, that Netanyahu should be brought before the International Criminal Court and that Spain should stop buying arms from this country, among other measures.
Fernández also took advantage of the press conference to refer to last Saturday’s demonstration in solidarity with the Saharawi people, and criticised the PSOE’s “turnaround” in the last legislature by endorsing the autonomy plan in the area put forward by Rabat, which in his opinion is to give in to Morocco’s “blackmail”.
Yolanda Diaz was also present at the demonstration, and was rebuked by some of the participants, who called for more decisive action in her defence.
