The diplomatic row escalated on Monday after the Israeli Embassy in Madrid posted a statement on X, calling on Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to “denounce and condemn these shameful remarks” by members of the government.
The Spanish government responded on Tuesday by stressing that it “categorically” rejected “falsehoods” perpetuated by the Israeli embassy about Spanish ministers, adding that it “does not accept unfounded insinuations about them".
The exchange came days after Spain’s Minister of Social Rights Ione Belarra said on Saturday the Israeli regime was conducting a “genocide attempt” in Gaza, and called on Madrid to take Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the International Criminal Court for “war crimes".
Two other ministers also on Saturday condemned the Israeli atrocities in Gaza in posts on social media platform X. Consumer Affairs Minister Alberto Garzon denounced the bombing of Gaza as “pure barbarism".
“Any political leader can freely express their positions as a representative of a political party in a full democracy such as Spain's,” the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in defense of the ministers.
Reacting to the Israeli embassy's statement, Belarra also posted on X on Monday that “denouncing this genocide is not 'aligning with Hamas', it is a democratic obligation".
She added that maintaining silence would amount to “complicity with terror".
4353**2050
Your Comment