<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The spokesperson for the Mixed Parliamentary Group and Secretary General of Podemos, Ione Belarra, has presented a Non-Law Proposal calling on the government to prohibit the transit of goods "from the territories illegally occupied by Israel."</strong></h4> The motion, presented on June 27 for debate in the plenary session of Congress, denounces that, according to research conducted by the Palestinian Youth Movement, reported on June 25 by ElDiario.es, "Spain has allowed the transit and transshipment of goods from illegal Israeli settlements to the US." According to the investigation, the shipments of goods originated from the illegal settlement of Bakar in the West Bank, founded in 1981. Shipments to the US from Israel, through Spanish ports, reportedly occurred from November 8, 2024, to June 18, 2025, with Israeli companies such as Ronopolidan, Ofertex Industries, ISM Magen Goldman Safes Enclosure, Best Stones, and Pinhas Hisherik. Shipments from other illegally occupied areas such as the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip have also been reported. For all these reasons, the non-legislative proposal urges the government to "immediately prohibit the trafficking of goods from companies operating in settlements and territories illegally occupied by Israel in Spanish territory," establish an arms embargo on Israel, and consequently prohibit the purchase and sale of arms by or to Israeli companies whose origin or destination is Israel, and "break diplomatic relations with the State of Israel." <h5><strong>KKR</strong></h5> Separately, in another motion presented that same day, Podemos urges Pedro Sánchez's government to terminate "any economic or contractual relationship" with companies that "collaborate with the occupation and genocide perpetrated by Israel in Palestine." The motion denounces the American multinational company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) as one of "the main real estate investors in the illegal settlements occupied by Israeli settlers in the West Bank." These settlements "have been condemned by repeated resolutions of international organizations, such as United Nations General Assembly Resolutions 446 and 465," or by "the recent resolution of the United Nations International Court of Justice of July 19, 2024, which ruled that Israeli settlements violate international law and demanded that Israel "stop the settlements and evacuate the settlers," as well as repair the harm caused to Palestinians affected by the occupation," it continues. Podemos also asserts that this entity has traded, "on many occasions," in real estate "illegally confiscated by the occupying Palestinian army from the Palestinian population." "This entity, through its subsidiary Hipoge, as the Tenants' Union has denounced, manages the majority of the real estate portfolio of the public entity SAREB (the so-called 'bad bank') through a contract it obtained in 2022," it continues. "It fulfills the function of 'servicer,' as manager and administrator of SAREB properties for sale, tasks it shares with Aliseda and Anticipa, subsidiaries of the vulture fund Blackstone," it adds. "The management of these homes has been characterized by a pursuit of profits over social needs, in homes that are publicly owned through an entity that depends on the state for its budget," Podemos asserts. “Maintaining economic relations with entities that actively collaborate with and finance the Israeli regime, which has been perpetrating genocide in Palestine for years, positions Spain as a collaborator in this process and places such sensitive elements as the right to housing in the hands of speculators and criminals,” warns the Belarra party. Therefore, the motion urges the government to “terminate any economic or contractual relationship it maintains with KKR and its subsidiaries, particularly the management of SAREB properties,” to “not establish economic relations of any kind with entities that support the illegal occupation and genocide of the State of Israel, as well as to terminate any existing ones,” and to “terminate any contractual relationship with investment funds for the management of public real estate assets.”
