Ester Muñoz (PP) praises the Armed Forces after her controversial remarks about the UNIFIL soldier detained by Israel

Eduardo González The PP spokesperson in the Congress, Ester Muñoz, praised the work of the Armed Forces this Friday in favor of “Spain’s interests,” following the controversy created by her statements downplaying the detention of a Spanish soldier from the UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) by Israel. This past Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Israeli chargé d'affaires in Madrid, Dana Erlich, to convey Spain’s protest over the “unjustifiable detention” of a Spanish UNIFIL soldier. The soldier was held for almost an hour by the Israeli Army after blocking a convoy of peacekeepers that was preparing to deliver food and other supplies to the Indonesian contingent. According to Defense Minister Margarita Robles, Israeli soldiers released the soldier after Spain lodged its “strongest protest” with both the United Nations and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. In statements to the press, Ester Muñoz later declared that she herself had been “detained for considerably longer” at traffic stops than the Spanish UNIFIL soldier. “When you're in politics, you can't stoop to trivialities,” Margarita Robles immediately declared. “Out of respect for the military, the UN, and the soldier who endured a very difficult situation, one should remain silent,” she added. “I don't believe that Ester Muñoz, at any Civil Guard checkpoint, received the treatment that our soldier received,” she added. “I have been with the Armed Forces every day, and I will continue to be, because I believe they do commendable work, risking their lives to defend Spain's interests,” Ester Muñoz declared this Friday during a press conference in Cuenca. “And I will continue to do so, as I do with every initiative that the Popular Parliamentary Group presents in Congress and that bears my signature,” she affirmed. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares also addressed Muñoz's controversial remarks this Friday during his appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to report on Spain's position regarding the current situation in the Middle East. Addressing PP Senator José Antonio Monago, he said: “I say this as Foreign Minister and as a Spanish patriot: it is a disgrace that you have not made clear your support for the Spanish soldier, the peacekeeper detained by the Israeli Armed Forces.” “A Spanish soldier is not detained, nor is he touched for even a second. That is why I, who am a true patriot, summoned the Israeli chargé d'affaires and delivered a diplomatic note of protest,” he recalled. “You should apologize right now, since your national spokesperson—none other than your national spokesperson—still hasn't apologized to that soldier, his family, or the 600 Spanish soldiers in Lebanon and their families,” he continued. “By the way, I'd also like to know what infraction led to your national spokesperson being detained at a checkpoint for over an hour, as she claims. It must be something serious. The Civil Guard has never detained me,” he added.

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