The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, coincided yesterday in Dubai with the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, during the family photo of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28). He also had a telephone conversation with the Israeli Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, to whom he assured that “Israel is a partner and a friend of Spain”.
Sánchez’s meeting with Herzog, with whom he did not meet in Dubai, came a day after Benjamin Netanyahu’s government recalled its ambassador to Spain, Radica Radián-Gordon, for consultations, in protest against new declarations by the President of the Government in which he expressed his “frank doubts” that Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip is complying with International Humanitarian Law.
Apart from that, the President of the Government had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Defense instead of with the Prime Minister, Bentamin Netanyahu, which would have been the most logical thing to do. “I have spoken with Minister Benny Gantz, to whom I have reiterated that Israel is a partner and a friend of Spain,” Sánchez declared through the social network X. “Once again, I have condemned the Hamas terrorist attacks of last October 7,” he continued. “Spain wishes the immediate release of all hostages,” he assured.
“Israel has the right to defend itself against this terrorist attack, but I have reaffirmed that Spain considers the death of civilians in Gaza unbearable and that Israel must comply with International Humanitarian Law,” concluded Pedro Sánchez.
Benny Gantz also reported this conversation through the same social network. “I spoke today with Spanish Prime Minister,” to whom “I updated him on the war and regional developments” and to whom “I updated on the war and regional developments and emphasised that for the sake of Israel’s security, Israeli civilians’ sense of security, and restoring regional stability – terrorist Hamas must be dismantled in Gaza,” he continued.
“I added to the Prime Minister that the State of Israel places great importance on avoiding civilian casualties as much as possible,” he assured. “Hamas on the other hand, continues to perpetrate horrific crimes against humanity like using children and women as human shields for its terror activities.,” he concluded.
The decision to recall the ambassador to Spain, an unprecedented move by Israel with a Western country, came a day after Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen held a meeting with his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Albares, in an attempt by Spain to try to cool the diplomatic crisis. After the recall of the Israeli ambassador, there has been no reaction from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Last Friday, Eli Cohen summoned Spain’s ambassador in Tel Aviv, Ana Sálomon, after accusing Pedro Sánchez of “supporting terrorism” for stating, during his tour of Israel, Palestine and Egypt (in which he was received by Netanyahu in Jerusalem), that Israel’s response to the Hamas attack was being “disproportionate” and that Spain defends “a lasting ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip. In response to this, José Manuel Albares summoned the Israeli ambassador in Madrid, to whom he conveyed that “the completely false words addressed by the Israeli government to Pedro Sánchez are unacceptable to us and can never happen again”.
Bustinduy avoids calling Hamas terrorist
Yesterday, before journalists, the Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, stated that the open diplomatic crisis with Spain is an “overacting” to divert attention from what is happening in the Strip. According to the minister, who is part of Sumar’s quota in the Executive, the international community should follow the example of the Government of Spain and mobilize to put an end to Israel’s “unjustifiable barbarism” on Gaza.
When asked twice by journalists if he considers Hamas to be a terrorist group, Bustunduy avoided answering and limited himself to stating that the situation in Palestine is an “absolute failure” of the international community and pointing out the need to act to guarantee the human rights and freedoms of the Palestinian population.
