ISRAEL SEEKS EUROPEAN BACKING FOR PEACE – Foreign minister urges stronger support for negotiations
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar criticised Spain’s latest measures to pressure Israel during a press conference in Zagreb today.
Saar, appearing alongside Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman, accused the Spanish government of being influenced by propaganda.
Spain, on Monday, September 8th, banned ships and aircraft carrying weapons to Israel from docking at Spanish ports or entering its airspace due to Israel’s military in Gaza, measures the Israeli foreign minister denounced as antisemitic.
Spain, which recognised a Palestinian state in May 2024 and has been a vocal critic of Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, responded to Gideon Saar’s comments by summoning its ambassador in Tel Aviv back for consultations.
On top of the ban on ships and aircraft delivering weapons or military-grade jet fuel to Israel, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government said it would not allow anyone who has participated directly in what he called the “genocide” in Gaza to enter Spain.
Israel has strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide, and it is fighting a case at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that accuses it of genocide.
During the press conference, the Israeli minister praised countries like Germany, Italy, and Croatia, which he said understood that peace should be achieved through “bilateral negotiations rather than decisions made in Paris or Madrid.”
