Raised statements Vice President of the Spanish Government Yolanda Diaz, a new crisis between Spain And Israel, where she said that “Palestine “Free from the river and the sea,” which is the expression used by Hamas, and the Israeli embassy in Spain denounced these statements.
Rodica Radian-Gordon, Israel’s ambassador to Spain, said: “We completely reject the statements of Yolanda Diaz, the Second Vice-President of the Government, when she used the Hamas slogan, ‘From the river to the sea,’ noting that this expression clearly calls for the elimination of Israel and incites hatred and violence,” she said. Spanish newspaper El Pais.
She added: “I hope that Spain will fulfill its commitment to combating anti-Semitism that it acquired through the National Plan for the Implementation of the European Strategy to Combat Anti-Semitism and Promote Jewish Life.”
In the wake of this controversy, the Spanish Vice President of the Government registered an initiative in Congress demanding a review of the National Plan to Combat Anti-Semitism, questioning whether Yolanda Diaz’s statements could be considered “anti-Semitic.”
The crisis between Spain and Israel has been escalating recently, especially after Spain recognized the Palestinian state. Israel threatens to sever ties between Israeli and Palestinian banks, as a retaliatory measure. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would stop transferring money to Norway and withhold tax fees collected for the Palestinian Authority.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had previously announced that Spain would mobilize an additional package worth 16 million euros to support Palestine.
Sanchez pointed out that in 2023, Spain tripled its support for Palestine, reaching 50 million euros, including humanitarian aid and development financing, and thus announced that this aid would continue in 2024, and announced a new package worth an additional 16 million to support Palestine.
The Spanish Prime Minister explained that “humanitarian work and the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza are different stages of the process that we support today and which must ultimately lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state and compliance with the two-state solution.”