Press Release: Veritas Press C.I.C.
Author: Kamran Faqir
Article Date Published: 13 Sept 2025 at 11:47 GMT
Category: Europe | Spain | Diplomatic Freefall
Source(s): Veritas Press C.I.C. | Multi News Agencies
A full-blown diplomatic confrontation has erupted between Madrid and Jerusalem after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez, of making a “blatant genocidal threat.” Spain, rejecting the charge as “false and slanderous,” summoned Israel’s top diplomat in Madrid on Friday in what observers are calling the sharpest clash yet between a European Union state and Israel since the Gaza war began.
The Spark: Sánchez’s Nuclear Weapons Remark.
The row stems from Sánchez’s remarks on Monday, September 8, when he unveiled a package of nine measures aimed at pressuring Israel to halt what he openly termed “genocide in Gaza.” Among the measures:
- A permanent arms embargo against Israel.
- A ban on settlement imports from the occupied Palestinian territories.
- Entry bans for extremist Israeli ministers such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
- Blocking Israel-bound fuel and weapons shipments from using Spanish ports and airspace.
But the storm ignited over Sánchez’s contextual aside during a press briefing:
“Spain, as you know, doesn’t have nuclear bombs, nor aircraft carriers, nor large oil reserves. We alone can’t stop the Israeli offensive. But that doesn’t mean we won’t stop trying.”
While Spanish officials say the statement was a lament about Spain’s limited hard-power leverage, Netanyahu’s office framed it as an existential threat. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), it accused Sánchez of advocating Israel’s annihilation:
“Spanish PM Sánchez said yesterday that Spain can’t stop Israel’s battle against Hamas terrorists because ‘Spain does not have nuclear weapons.’ That’s a blatant genocidal threat on the world’s only Jewish State.”
The statement went further, invoking centuries-old persecution:
“Apparently, the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of the Jews of Spain and the systematic mass murder of Jews in the Holocaust are not enough for Sánchez. Incredible.”
Spain’s Sharp Rebuttal:
Spain reacted with fury. On Friday, September 12, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Madrid, Dana Erlich, to formally reject Netanyahu’s words.
“We categorically reject the false and slanderous statements from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office,” the foreign ministry said in a statement cited by Reuters.
Defence Minister Margarita Robles went further, telling Antena 3 television:
“I don’t think Netanyahu is exactly the person entitled to lecture anyone while committing the atrocities he is committing in Gaza.”
Spain also recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv earlier in the week, following Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s claim that Madrid was leading an “antisemitic campaign.” Sa’ar announced retaliatory sanctions against two Spanish ministers, accusing Spain of pursuing “wild, hate-filled rhetoric.”
Madrid countered by banning Ben-Gvir and Smotrich from Spanish territory and insisting its criticism is directed at Israeli government policies, not the Jewish people.
“Spain rejects any form of antisemitism, racism, xenophobia or intolerance,” the ministry noted, highlighting that it has welcomed 72,000 Sephardic Jews as citizens under special legislation in recent years.
Analysts: “An Unprecedented Breakdown.”
Diplomatic analysts say the episode marks a new phase in Europe’s fraught relations with Israel.
“Spain has gone further than any other EU member in calling Israel’s war in Gaza genocide, and Netanyahu’s invocation of the Inquisition only escalates tensions,” said Ilana Bet-El, a Brussels-based security analyst, in comments to The Guardian. “This is no longer a policy dispute, it is a historical, moral and legal confrontation.”
Spanish daily El País argued in an editorial that Netanyahu’s accusations of “genocidal threats” are a diversion tactic:
“By invoking centuries-old persecution, the Israeli leader seeks to conflate Spain’s criticisms of state policy with antisemitism, muddying the waters at a time when Israel faces unprecedented international legal scrutiny.”
Gaza: The Humanitarian Catastrophe.
The backdrop to the diplomatic storm is Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters killed around 1,200 people in Israel and abducted 251 hostages, the Israeli military, backed by the United States, has carried out an unrelenting campaign that Palestinian, UN, and human rights organisations describe as genocidal.
- The Gaza Health Ministry reports more than 100,000 Palestinians killed, though the figure does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
- Independent estimates, including those cited by a former Israeli chief of staff this week, suggest over 200,000 killed or wounded since the war began (The Guardian, Sept. 12).
- Famine conditions are worsening: UNICEF and the World Food Programme warn that hundreds of children have already died of hunger, with hundreds of thousands at risk due to Israel’s blockade of aid.
UN experts have repeatedly said Israel is weaponising starvation. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is examining South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide, while the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and other Israeli officials for crimes against humanity.
Spain has positioned itself at the forefront of European calls to hold Israel accountable. In its statement on Friday, Madrid vowed to:
“Continue to support the work of the international courts to clarify what has been happening in Gaza since 2023, both in terms of the ICC investigation into crimes against humanity committed by several Israeli leaders and the ICJ proceedings against the State of Israel under the Genocide Convention.”
U.S. Unease And Broader Fallout:
The confrontation has drawn international attention. The U.S. State Department voiced concern this week over Spain’s restrictions on Israel-bound military shipments and fuel deliveries through Spanish ports, fearing disruption of NATO cooperation.
Israel has also ordered a boycott of the Barcelona Mobile World Congress, one of Europe’s largest technology expos, accusing Spain of “anti-Israel policies.”
Meanwhile, Sánchez’s stance is dividing Spain’s domestic politics. The far-right Vox party leader, Santiago Abascal, accused him of “wanting nuclear weapons to defend Hamas, not Spain.” But Spain’s left-wing coalition and many civil society groups have rallied behind Sánchez’s use of the term genocide.
A Turning Point?
Observers say the rift could shape broader EU policy. France and the UK are preparing to recognise Palestine as a state next month, following Spain’s lead. The European Parliament has also debated suspending trade privileges for Israel and sanctioning violent settlers.
“Spain is testing how far a middle power can go in confronting Israel over Gaza,” said Dr. Tariq Dana, a Palestinian political analyst, in an interview with Al Jazeera. “The backlash from Netanyahu shows just how sensitive and defensive Israel has become as the genocide narrative gains ground.”
Conclusion: A War Of Narratives, A Test Of Accountability.
The Madrid–Jerusalem clash encapsulates a larger battle: whether Israel’s war in Gaza is defended as self-defence against Hamas or condemned as a genocide against Palestinians. Spain’s defiance, from legal support at The Hague to bans on extremist Israeli ministers, has made it the EU’s most outspoken critic of Israel’s Gaza campaign. Netanyahu’s charges of “genocidal threats” and references to the Inquisition may rally his domestic base, but internationally they risk reinforcing perceptions of an Israeli government increasingly isolated and defensive in the face of mounting humanitarian catastrophe.
By twisting Sánchez’s words into a supposed threat of genocide and weaponising Jewish historical trauma, Netanyahu’s office has deployed a calculated strategy: recasting accountability as antisemitism, silencing dissent while Gaza’s destruction accelerates. But the facts are undeniable: whole neighbourhoods flattened, hospitals destroyed, and children starved in a siege the UN warns is deliberately engineered. With over 100,000 Palestinians dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, Israel’s narrative of self-defence grows harder to sustain against mounting evidence of systematic war crimes.
Spain’s measures are more than a symbolic protest. They represent a direct challenge to Western complicity, raising the question of whether international law can still bind powerful states or whether it remains a hollow promise for the powerless. In this sense, Sánchez’s government has forced Europe into a reckoning: will it continue to shield Israel diplomatically and militarily, or acknowledge that Palestinian lives demand equal protection under international law?
As Sánchez put it:
“There are causes worth fighting for, even if winning them isn’t in our sole power.”
With Gaza in ruins, the world is watching whether Spain’s gamble sparks a broader European shift on Israel’s conduct, or whether it deepens into a new diplomatic freeze. What is clear is that the clash between Madrid and Jerusalem is not just about words. It is about whether the charge of genocide will remain a moral accusation or finally trigger political consequences for one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.
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