Spain said Monday it “strongly rejects the false and slanderous accusations of antisemitism” made by Israel after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced nine measures aimed at stopping what he called “the genocide in Gaza”.
The foreign ministry also condemned Israel for barring two far-left government ministers from entering the country, saying Spain “would not be intimidated in its defence of peace, international law and human rights”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X that Sanchez’s criticism of the war was an attempt “to divert attention from serious corruption scandals through a continuous anti-Israel and antisemitic campaign.”
Saar also announced entry bans on Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz and Youth Minister Sira Rego, both members of the far-left Sumar group that is the junior partner of Sanchez’s coalition government.
Rego is of Palestinian descent on her father’s side and spent part of her early childhood in the occupied West Bank.
Among the measures announced by Sanchez was an arms embargo on Israel and a ban on vessels carrying fuel for the Israeli military from using Spanish ports.
Spain is one of the most outspoken European critics of Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, which was sparked by the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and recognised a Palestinian state last year.
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© Agence France-Presse
