Overview

• Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares summoned Dana Erlich, Israel’s charge d’affaires in Madrid, to formally reject the Israeli statement as false and slanderous.
• The Office of Israel’s Prime Minister posted on X that Pedro Sánchez had made a “blatant genocidal threat” in remarks related to new Spain policy steps.
• Sánchez this week announced an embargo on weapons, ammunition and military equipment to or from Israel and ordered Israel-bound fuel shipments blocked from Spanish ports.
• Following the measures, Israel and Spain each barred two ministers from the other country, signaling a deepening diplomatic rift.
• Spain has been a vocal critic of Israel’s Gaza war that followed the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, and the Gaza Health Ministry reports more than 64,000 Palestinians killed without a civilian–combatant breakdown.