Two days after Spain announced its intention to recognize an independent state of Palestine, Israel imposed restrictions on the work of Spanish diplomats in the country.
The Spanish Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Spanish Consulate General in East Jerusalem will be prohibited in the future from offering their services to Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted on Friday. media platform
Katz justified the measure by referring to a statement by Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, which he labeled as anti-Semitic.
“In response to the Spanish recognition of a Palestinian state and the anti-Semitic call of the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister not only to recognize a Palestinian state, but ‘to liberate Palestine from the river to the sea’, I have decided to close the connection between to break the Spanish state. representation in Israel and the Palestinians,” he wrote.
In a speech on X, Díaz used the controversial slogan: “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.” It suggests that there should be a free Palestine in an area from the Jordan to the Mediterranean – including the area where Israel is located.
Díaz belongs to the left-wing electoral alliance Sumar, a junior coalition partner of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Spain, Ireland and Norway announced on Wednesday that they plan to recognize an independent Palestinian state by the end of May. Israel reacted with outrage to these announcements.
A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict envisions an independent Palestinian state that coexists peacefully with Israel. Netanyahu, like Hamas, is against a two-state solution.
