Albares announces in Congress that the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires has been summoned again following the arrest of Saif Abukeshek

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has summoned Dana Erlich, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Israeli Embassy in Madrid, to convey his protest against the "inadmissible and unacceptable" decision by an Israeli court to extend the detention of Spanish-Palestinian activist Saif Abukeshek, arrested during the latest assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla. This is the second time in less than a week that the highest-ranking Israeli diplomat in Spain has been summoned in connection with these events. This was announced on Thursday, May 7, by the minister during his appearance before Congress to explain the actions and decisions of his Department to protect and assist the ships and people participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla heading to Gaza. According to Albares, the flotilla, “comprising between 70 and 80 vessels” with 300 people on board, “around 50 of them Spanish,” was intercepted by Israeli forces on April 29th when “they were west of the island of Crete, in international waters” and “more than 600 nautical miles from the coast of Israel, that is, outside the jurisdiction of any Israeli agent.” “On Thursday, April 30th, we sent a strong protest through diplomatic channels to the Israeli authorities regarding the illegal and unacceptable boarding of the vessels in international waters and the detention of our citizens, making it clear that they were under our diplomatic and consular protection, and we demanded that the necessary measures be taken for their immediate and safe return to our country,” he continued. “We also summoned the Israeli Chargé d'Affaires in Madrid to convey these messages directly to her, and I inform you that yesterday (Wednesday, May 6) we again summoned the Israeli Chargé d'Affaires to convey to her how unacceptable and intolerable the continued detention of our citizen is,” Saif Abukeshek announced. On April 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “urgently” summoned Dana Erlich to convey “the strongest condemnation of the detention of the Flotilla, which included Spaniards.” The minister recalled that, on the same afternoon of April 30, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli authorities announced that the members of the Flotilla would be disembarked on the island of Crete and that “most of the Spanish” members “arrived at the airport in the early afternoon of Friday, May 1, where they were met by the consul.” However, he lamented, “the Israeli authorities decided to transfer two members of the Flotilla, one of them a Spanish citizen, Saif Abukeshek, and the other a Brazilian, Thiago Ávila.” “Since learning of this, we have been working at all levels to demand their immediate release,” while “our consul in Tel Aviv has been in contact with the Israeli authorities to facilitate access for our citizen upon his arrival in Israel, in order to provide him with the necessary consular assistance, which he is currently doing,” he reported. “Our position is clear regarding the illegal detention of Saif Abukeshek and his transfer to Israel: we demand his immediate release, and we have conveyed this to the Israeli authorities, and I personally to my counterpart, the Israeli Foreign Minister,” Gideon Sa’ar, he affirmed. “This is an action contrary to international law, following a boarding in international waters, and he must be released immediately,” because “international law, including humanitarian law and the law of the sea, which are being violated, must be respected by everyone, including Israel,” he insisted. People's Party For his part, Carlos Floriano, of the People's Party, warned that this case addresses “two issues that should not be confused: the first is the defense of Spanish citizens abroad, and the second is the partisan, self-serving, and opportunistic use that this Government makes of that defense, and the Minister's intervention today has left no room for doubt.” “Every Spanish citizen, without exception, deserves the protection of their country. Always. Anywhere in the world. Regardless of their beliefs or circumstances. And that includes the Spanish citizen who is currently in Israel. Therefore, we demand that the Government act diligently, guarantee consular assistance, safeguard their rights, and work to resolve this situation as soon as possible,” he stated. However, Floriano questioned “the credibility of this Government both when it decides to act and when it decides not to act.” “Where has your presence been in the case of the two Spaniards unjustly imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea in inhumane conditions of incommunicado detention?” he asked. “Why haven’t you appeared to explain the brutal situation Javier Marañón and David Rodríguez are enduring? Aren’t they just as Spanish as the case for which you are appearing today?” he added. “But this is not an isolated case: Where is the urgency, the decisiveness, and the extraordinary convening of Congress when Spanish citizens have been detained in Venezuela? I remind you of the cases of José María Basoa and Andrés Martínez, who spent more than 400 days in one of the worst prisons in the Venezuelan penitentiary system,” he continued. “In none of these cases have there been extraordinary sessions in Congress, nor dedicated appearances. Why haven’t there been urgent appearances when Spanish citizens were detained in Venezuela, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, or Iran?” he insisted. Sumar For his part, Agustín Santos Maraver, of Sumar, questioned in his remarks how “it was possible” that the Israeli assault on the flotilla “took place in international waters just a few nautical miles from Greek and European Union waters.” “The answer is very simple: because in November 2025 a strategic military cooperation agreement was signed between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel,” he denounced. “Israel received an amphibious assault ship from the United States in 2024, the Nahshon, which was outfitted as a floating prison, as an interrogation center, and when the testimonies currently being gathered come to light, it will become clear what the objective of that ship is: to expand Israel’s capacity for illegal action against international law, not only territorially in the failed states of Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, but also at sea, in the Mediterranean Sea, on all the coasts that bathe the sea of which we are a part,” he asserted. These waters, he continued, have “such significant strategic importance” for Spain “that the frigate Cristóbal Colón, our most important and modern F-100, was deployed to Cypriot waters to defend British bases in Cypriot territory belonging to the European Union, while behind it, 400 miles away, the flotilla was being attacked and Spanish citizens were under attack,” he warned. “This demands a complete rethink of exactly what we are doing, who our allies are, and who our enemies are, because if we are not capable of defending Spanish citizens, what good is it to defend British bases in Cypriot territory?” he asked. “Furthermore, despite having the main electronic intelligence center for all naval movements in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean in Rota, the Spanish government was not informed of what was going to happen,” Santos denounced. “Frontex, which has an obligation to coordinate and which has given 105 million euros to Greece to buy 50 ships in the last three years, did not report on the movement of the vessels, and yet, (5:42) you can go to a website and track the movement of the Nahshon,” he continued. “You can’t be demanding freedom of passage in the Strait of Hormuz and allowing acts of piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean. You can’t be defending the tuna fleet in the Indian Ocean and allowing pirates in the Eastern Mediterranean,” he warned. Vox Carlos Flores Juberías, of Vox, criticized the government for its eagerness to “release criminals from prison, because that, and nothing else, is this Spaniard, born in the West Bank and with a Swedish passport, about whom they are so concerned.” According to the far-right MP, “this Saif Abukeshek” is part of “the overseas branch of Hamas sanctioned by the United States” and is “an active collaborator in the financial network of the Hamas terrorist organization, known to both Egyptian and Tunisian authorities, and whose physical integrity and life, incidentally, are not in the slightest danger.” “Firstly, because, as he has readily acknowledged, all his consular rights and all necessary medical checkups are guaranteed; and secondly, because Israeli law does not provide for the death penalty for terrorists who have not committed violent crimes,” he asserted.

Related Content

Pedro Sánchez holds his first conversation with the new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham

The Spanish Embassy thanks Sheinbaum and Mexico for their congratulations after the World Cup victory

The Spanish Ambassador in Buenos Aires proposes a Spain-Argentina match as a farewell tribute to Messi

Colombia's President-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, appoints political ally Carlos Felipe Mejía as ambassador to Spain

Foreign Ministry raises death toll of Spaniards from Venezuelan earthquake to 50