Spain threatens full arms embargo on Israel, weighs banning Netanyahu from visiting

The Spanish government is reportedly preparing to implement a complete embargo on trade with any Israeli public or private defense company, according to the local El País news outlet.

Spain has, in the past month, already canceled several deals with Israeli defense companies.

Under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spain has become one of the most vitriolic European critics of Israel since the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping of 251 people in 2023. 

The radical left Sumar political alliance, which is part of the Spanish government, reportedly seeks even more extreme measures against Israel. 

Yolanda Díaz, the Communist founder of Sumar and the deputy prime minister in the Spanish government, has revealed that she and her alliance seek “severing relations with the criminal Netanyahu regime.”

Sumar is therefore pushing Madrid towards declaring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers persona non grata in Spain “for their incitement to genocide, forced starvation and ethnic cleansing.” The potential ban would reportedly also extend to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. 

Israel has strongly rejected the accusations of “genocide,” “forced starvation,” and “ethnic cleansing.” The United States and Germany have also strongly rejected the charge of genocide in Gaza. 

The Netherlands announced in July a ban on Smotrich and Ben Gvir due to their hawkish Gaza policies. However, neither the Dutch government nor any other European government has to date declared Netanyahu or the defense minister Katz persona non grata. 

Last May, Spain, Ireland and Norway unilaterally recognized a “Palestinian state” despite strong criticism from Israel that such diplomatic move constitutes a reward for Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre. 

“This is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace,” Sánchez argued at the time. 

However, this claim was undermined by Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, who vowed in a video clip that “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea,” a popular anti-Israel slogan that calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. Germany has outlawed the slogan, as it is associated with calls for the murder of Jews.

“Khamenei, Sinwar and the Vice Premier of Spain Yolanda Diaz call for the disappearance of the State of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian Islamic terrorist state from the river to the sea,” Katz, who at the time served as Israel’s foreign minister, wrote on 𝕏.

“Prime Minister Sánchez, by not firing Diaz and announcing the recognition of the Palestinian State, is complicit in inciting the murder of the Jewish people and war crimes,” the Israeli minister added.

In May, the Spanish prime minister escalated Madrid’s increasingly vitriolic anti-Israel rhetoric by stating that Spain does not trade with a “genocidal state.” 

“I’ll clarify one thing, Mr. Rufián,” Sanchez said in parliament. “We don’t trade with a genocidal state. We don’t. I believe I explained from this platform the other day what we’re talking about, when some statements were made that weren’t true,” he claimed, referring to Israel’s self-defense operations against the genocidal terrorist organization Hamas, which openly calls for Israel’s destruction and murder of all Jews. 

Last month, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland called for the suspension of the trade agreement between Israel and the EU. However, the anti-Israel initiative was defeated by countries like Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Hungary. 

The growing Spanish hostility towards the Jewish state is not limited to the Israeli government. The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team was recently forced to remove the name “Israel” from its kit at the Vuelta a España race due to threats from anti-Israel activists. The team is owned by the Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adam. 

“In the interest of prioritizing the safety of our riders and the entire peloton, in light of the dangerous nature of some protests at the Vuelta, Israel–Premier Tech has issued riders with team monogram-branded kit for the remainder of the race,” the Israeli team wrote in a post on 𝕏 on Saturday. 

“The team name remains Israel–Premier Tech, but the monogram kit now aligns with the branding decisions we have previously adopted for our vehicles and casual clothing,” it added.