Spain rejects Israeli criticism of Madrid’s condemnation of Gaza bombing

The Spanish government has “categorically” rejected Israeli accusations that remarks by ministers — who condemned the ongoing aggression against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip — are “absolutely immoral”.

In a statement on X, the Israeli Embassy in Madrid called on Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to “unequivocally denounce and condemn these shameful remarks.”

The embassy claimed that the remarks by members of the government are not only completely unethical, but also “endanger the security of Jewish communities in Spain, exposing them to the risk of further anti-Semitic incidents and attacks.”

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The Spanish government responded by stressing that it “categorically” rejects what it called “falsehoods in the Israeli Embassy’s communiqué about some of its members,” adding that it “does not accept unfounded insinuations about them.” The foreign ministry in the Spanish capital stressed that “any political leader can freely express positions as a representative of a political party in a full democracy such as Spain.”

On Saturday, Spain’s Minister of Social Rights Ione Belarra called on the Spanish government to take the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the International Criminal Court for “war crimes” for the attempted genocide that the occupation state is committing in Gaza.

Consumer Affairs Minister Alberto Garzon also denounced the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, describing it as “pure barbarism.”

Although Sanchez acknowledged “Israel’s right to defend itself,” this must be “within the limits set by international law and international humanitarian law,” he insisted.

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