The Diplomat
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, yesterday threatened Spain with the closure of its Consulate General in Jerusalem if the Spanish Government does not abide by its ban on not maintaining contacts with the Palestinians as of June 1.
In his social network X account, Katz thus responded to the formal request made by Pedro Sánchez’s Executive to reverse the decision adopted days ago by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prohibit the Consulate from “providing services to residents of the Palestinian Authority.” nor carry out consular or other functions outside the Jerusalem district, without prior written consent of the Ministry.”
The Spanish Government had sent a verbal note to the Israeli requesting the reversal of that decision and emphasizing that “the status of our diplomatic and consular missions must be respected under any circumstances as Spain always does,” according to diplomatic sources, who added that the Diplomatic norms and customs are binding on everyone.
The response came through Minister Katz, who pointed out that “any connection between the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem and people in the Palestinian Authority represents a threat to the national security of Israel and will be completely prohibited.”
And after affirming that his Government will “strictly comply” with the guidelines he has given, he assured that “if violations occur, additional measures will be adopted, up to the closure of the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem.”
Later, he insisted that Israel “will not remain silent in the face of the unilateral decision of the Government of Pedro Sánchez to recognize a Palestinian State led by Hamas and the anti-Semitic statements of Yolanda Díaz to destroy Israel and replace it with a Palestinian State from the river to the sea.” .
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, recalled in an interview on Onda Cero that the Consulate General in Jerusalem, in charge of relations with the Palestinian Authority, “has a status that is guaranteed by International Law and by the Convention of Vienna”.
He added Albares that this statute “cannot be changed unilaterally by Israel” but rather what exists is a “reciprocity” in the guarantees, privileges and immunities between diplomatic representations.
The diplomatic sources consulted insisted that Israel must respect the status of the Consulate General in Jerusalem under “any circumstance” and added that “diplomatic norms and customs bind us all.” “Spain does not make foreign policy by tweet,” they stated.
