<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares summoned the charge d'affaires of the Israeli Embassy in Spain this Friday morning to strongly reject the "false and slanderous statements by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he accused Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of having committed a "blatant genocidal threat" against Israel, according to sources at the Ministry.</strong></h4> "Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez said yesterday that Spain cannot stop Israel's battle against Hamas terrorists because 'Spain does not have nuclear weapons,'" Netanyahu wrote Thursday on the social network X. "This constitutes a blatant genocidal threat against the only Jewish state in the world," he continued. “Apparently, the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of Jews from Spain, and the systematic mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust are not enough for Sánchez. Incredible,” he added. In response to these “false and slanderous comments made by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office toward Spain,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement on Thursday recalling that the Spanish government “immediately condemned the atrocious attack committed on October 7 by the terrorist group Hamas” and demanded “from day one the unconditional release of all hostages.” “This same government made the decision to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and approved the first National Plan against Antisemitism in 2023,” the Foreign Ministry continued. “Spain rejects any form of antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, or intolerance and has welcomed 72,000 Sephardim as nationals in recent years as a result of specific legislation for them,” it recalled. “With the same determination,” he continued, “Spain demands an immediate cessation of the endless violence in Gaza, the constant attacks against the civilian population, the immediate entry of all humanitarian aid currently blocked by the Israeli government, and respect for the most basic human rights of the Palestinian population and international humanitarian law.” “Spain defends the existence of two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in good neighborliness and with reciprocal guarantees for their peace and security as the only path to peace,” he continued. Last Monday, José Manuel Albares summoned the Spanish ambassador in Tel Aviv, Ana Sálomon, for consultations “in response to the slanderous accusations against Spain and the unacceptable measures against two members of our country's government.” Pedro Sánchez announced nine measures on Monday to halt Israel's “genocide” in Gaza, including the “urgent” adoption of a Royal Decree-Law to impose an arms embargo on Israel. In response to these measures, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the Spanish government "anti-Semitic" and declared them "a clear attempt by the corrupt Sánchez government to distract attention from the serious corruption scandals." He also announced that he will ban Vice President and Minister of Labor Yolanda Díaz and Minister of Youth and Children Sira Rego from entering the country. Albares has asked the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, to condemn the decision by Benjamin Netanyahu's government to sanction Yolanda Díaz and Sira Rego at the European level.
