The second diplomatic clash between Israel and Spain in a week has escalated tension between both countries. Shortly after the Israeli president, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the Spanish ambassador to be summoned again, in order to give a “reprimand” for what he considers “shameful” statements by the president of the Government in his interview this Thursday on TVE, The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Middle Eastern country, Eli Cohen, has announced the call of the Israeli ambassador in Spain “for consultations in Jerusalem.”
“After the scandalous statements of the President of the Spanish Government, who once again repeated unfounded accusations, I decided to summon our ambassador,” he announced through his Twitter account.
“Israel is acting and will continue to act in accordance with international law and will continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is eliminated from Gaza,” he reaffirmed. In his message, Eli Cohen points out that “a single entity is responsible for the October 7 massacre and the current situation in the Gaza Strip: the terrorist organization Hamas. Hamas is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against citizens of Israel, as well as against residents of the Gaza Strip.”
The interview that has generated this stir was the one offered by Sánchez to RTVE, where he expressed “frank doubts” that the Israeli forces are respecting International Law in their offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu reproaches Sánchez for speaking out in this regard on the same day that “terrorists” murdered three Israelis in the “capital”, Jerusalem. The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has claimed responsibility for this attack, which was carried out at a bus stop.
The Spanish ambassador, Ana Salomón, was already summoned last week by the Israeli Foreign Ministry at the end of Sánchez’s trip to the area, since Israel considered that the President of the Government had made statements that amounted to “supporting terrorism.”
Six days ago, Israel also called the ambassador after Sánchez opened up to recognizing the State of Palestine. In addition, the president also warned that if the European Union does not agree on this point, Spain “will make its own decisions.”
