Spain Summons Israeli Diplomat Over “Unacceptable” Remarks on Gaza Genocide Statement

Watan-Madrid on Thursday summoned the Israeli chargé d’affaires to protest a “completely unacceptable” statement in which he claimed that Spain is “on the wrong side of history” after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in Brussels that Gaza is experiencing “genocide.”

Ministerial sources confirmed that “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Israeli chargé d’affaires to protest his unacceptable remarks about the Spanish government.”

The chargé d’affaires is currently the highest-ranking Israeli diplomat in Spain, since the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu recalled its ambassador in November 2023 in response to previous comments by Sánchez regarding Gaza, in which he expressed “doubts” about Israel’s adherence to international humanitarian law.

While in Brussels, Sánchez on Thursday decried the “catastrophic situation of genocide” in Gaza and called for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

In response, the Israeli embassy issued a statement in Spanish saying Sánchez’s stance was “morally indefensible” and “unfortunately places Spain on the wrong side of history.”

The statement also declared:“The position taken by the Spanish government places Spain at the most extreme margins of the European stance—and increasingly isolates it—on the Middle East. It places it, unfortunately, on the wrong side of history.”

This is not the first time Spain has taken diplomatic action. The Spanish Foreign Ministry previously summoned Israel’s top diplomat in Madrid in November 2023, October 2024, and May 2025 over various incidents related to the ongoing war.

Sánchez remains one of the most outspoken European leaders criticizing the Israeli government and its war in Gaza against Hamas.

He also called for “immediate and urgent access for humanitarian aid” to Gaza, insisting that the United Nations should be in charge of delivering it.