Eduardo González
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced yesterday before the plenary session of the Congress that the Council of Ministers will approve the recognition of the Palestinian State on May 28. In response to this announcement, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recalled its ambassador in Madrid, Rodica Radian-Gordon, for consultations and has summoned the Spanish ambassador in Tel Aviv, Ana Sálomon.
Spain is adopting the measure at the same time as the governments of Norway and Ireland, which also announced it yesterday, while other countries such as the United States were against the measure. White House security adviser Jake Sullivan said he did not see how such unilateral recognition could lead to peace, adding: “The only way to achieve a two-state solution that works for both Israelis and Palestinians is through direct negotiations between the parties.
On the contrary, the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, who spoke by phone with Sánchez yesterday, applauded the measure, as did Hamas. The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, appeared yesterday with the representatives of Spain, Norway and Ireland to welcome the announcement made by the three countries.
Sánchez made the announcement at the beginning of his speech dedicated, among other matters, to the European Council of April 17 and the situation in the Middle East. In the same appearance, the president reported that Spain will sign an agreement with Ukraine that “will raise economic and social cooperation between our countries to an even higher level.”
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, “continues to bomb hospitals, homes, punishing innocent people to the point that the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court has requested his arrest. The Israeli prime minister does not have a peace project for Palestine,” Sánchez said. “Fighting against Hamas is legitimate, but Netanyahu is generating so much pain that the situation between the two states is in serious danger of being viable” and, therefore, it is necessary “to do everything in our power” to move towards the solution of the conflicts. two States, the only “just and sustainable” one.
“The offensive will only perpetuate hatred. We cannot allow it, the countries that defend human rights are obliged to act in Ukraine and Palestine, without double standards,” Sánchez stated before the plenary session. “We are obliged to do everything in our power to say loud and clear that we are not going to allow the possibility of two states to be destroyed. I inform you that, after having agreed on the decision in the coalition, on May 28 we will approve the recognition of Palestine,” he announced.
“No matter how many walls are built, the land and identity of Palestine will continue to exist” and, therefore, Spain will recognize the State of Palestine “for peace, for justice and for coherence,” he added. “The Palestinian authority is our partner for peace and will need all our support to restore basic services and security, Spain will be fully committed to these objectives,” he added.
According to Sánchez, all these matters have been shared with the King and with the leaders of the European Union and, in addition, Spain “will be accompanied by other European countries during these days and next week” and will thus join the “more than 140 countries of the world” that already recognize the Palestinian State. “We hope we are not the last, that our recognition and reasons contribute to other countries following this path,” he added.
After the announcement, the leader of Sumar and second vice president of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, celebrated the announcement on social networks, calling it an “act of humanity”, but adding that it is insufficient and concluding with the slogan “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea”, used by different Palestinian movements, including Hamas, and which advocates the disappearance of the State of Israel.
“Regarding Ukraine, I can announce that, as soon as the battle front allows, we will sign an agreement that will increase cooperation between our countries,” said Pedro Sánchez. The agreement, pending approval by the Council of Ministers, was going to be signed during the visit that the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, planned to make to Spain on May 17, which was finally cancelled. The objective of the agreement, similar to that signed with other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark or Canada, is to guarantee sustained military support (delivery of weapons and training of troops) in the long term while waiting for concrete the accession of Ukraine to NATO or the European Union.
Feijóo and Abascal
For his part, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, accused Sánchez of “using” the victims of the conflict in Gaza in his favor. “He tries to be an international leader when he is not even capable of being a leader of his own government,” he proclaimed. For this reason, he asked her, before looking for “peace in the world,” to look for it in his Executive. The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, accused Sánchez of placing himself “in the equidistance between satanic terrorism and a democratic State like Israel.” “He has unilaterally decided to recognize the Palestinian State. “He accepts Hamas’ stories, just as they have accepted ETA’s stories,” he said.
Likewise, Íñigo Errejón, spokesperson for Sumar, asked in his appearance that “many more steps” be taken after the recognition of the Palestinian State and asked Sánchez to unreservedly support the South African complaint before the International Criminal Court for genocide and the request for arrest. against Netanyahu for war crimes. He also called for an arms embargo and the rupture of trade relations and recalled that Spain has not yet withdrawn its ambassador to Israel and asked, for “consistency”, that action be taken with “the same firmness against the genocidal Netanyahu.” “If it made sense to withdraw the Spanish ambassador from Argentina due to Milei’s insults, how could it not make sense to withdraw our ambassador from Tel Aviv,” he warned.
Sánchez replicas
In his turn to respond, Sánchez attacked the PP because “Spain does not know whether or not it supports the recognition of the Palestinian State. Yes or no? ”And he accused the opposition leader of not having spoken about the thousands of victims of Israel’s attacks on Gaza. “Moderation is not being equidistant between the one who attacks and the one who suffers the aggression,” he warned. “Say something other than what Aznar tells you. “What would you do?” he continued. “Do you agree or not with the recognition of the Palestinian State? It is important that citizens know what they think,” he added. Likewise, he asked Abascal why he does not condemn the violence of the Palestinian people. “What must a victim have to have his consideration?”, he asked.
Sánchez assured Errejón that the recognition of the State of Palestine “is not the end, it is the beginning”, as demonstrated by a series of measures adopted by the Government, such as the denial of stopover permission to ships with weapons for Israel or the increase funding to the United Nations Office for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) at 35 million euros.
At the closing of his appearance, Sánchez insisted that “there is only one solution to the conflict (between Israel and Palestine): that two states coexist.” “There is a historical debt with the Palestinian people. “The world has ignored Palestine for seven decades,” he continued. “The same thing that moves us with Ukraine drives us to be with the people in Gaza and East Jerusalem,” because “nothing decent can be built on the ashes of destruction” and because “thousands of boys and girls have lost their lives in these months,” in figures and proportions that the world has not seen since the Second World War,” he said.
“Spain takes this step being aware that there is a long road ahead,” a step that is “perfectly compatible with the friendship and ties that unite us with Israel,” he stated. “Spain, with this step, joins a very large majority that twelve days ago supported Palestine to join the UN as a full member,” he concluded.
Israel calls its ambassador for consultations
For its part, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced “serious consequences” for Spain, Ireland and Norway for the recognition of the Palestinian State, which will take place in the three countries on May 28, and, in this context, called consulted his ambassador in Madrid, Rodica Radian-Gordon, and summoned the Spanish ambassador in Tel Aviv, Ana Sálomon.
In a statement from his department, Israeli Minister Israel Katz stated that “history will remember” that these three countries “decided to award a gold medal to Hamas murderers who raped girls and burned babies” and gave instructions that, when the respective ambassadors go to the Ministry, they are shown “the horrible video” of the attack so that they understand how “twisted” the decision their Governments have made. “Israel will not remain silent: its step will have serious consequences,” he warned.
Israel already called her ambassador in Madrid for consultations on November 30 after Sánchez questioned in statements that the Israeli Army was acting in accordance with International Law in its offensive in the Gaza Strip. Previously, the Spanish ambassador in Tel Aviv for her statements from the Rafá border crossing, where hours later the first hostages released by Hamas were going to leave. The Israeli ambassador returned to Spain in January, in an attempt to normalize the tense relations that the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu maintained with that of Pedro Sánchez.
Rodica Radian-Gordon had planned to leave her position permanently in July, due to retirement, and by then she was going to be replaced by the new Israeli ambassador, Zvi Vapni, who, with the new situation, may take some time longer to join the waiting for relations to normalize.
In the same sense, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain (FCJE), the institution that officially represents Spanish Jews, stated in a statement that “as long as there are hostages kidnapped in Gaza about whom nothing is known, recognizing the Palestinian State, it represents a reward for the terrorist organization Hamas.”
“The unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state by Spain does not contribute anything to resolve the release of the kidnapped people, nor is it a solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestinian organizations, nor does it contribute to peace in the region,” it added. “Spain would have to act in line with the rest of the European partners to achieve the immediate release of the kidnapped people, help resolve the conflict and achieve lasting peace,” it concluded.
