Spain recalled an ambassador from Tel Aviv on Monday after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saa condemned Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of a string of measures targeting Israel, the AFP reported.
Having stepped up criticism of Israel, Sanchez announced measures aimed at stopping what he called the “Gaza Genocide.”
Tel Aviv retaliated by banning two left-wing Spanish ministers from entering Israel.
Spanish Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s response, saying Madrid would not be “threatened by defending peace, international law and human rights.”
Saar said Sanchez’s criticism of the war was “an attempt to distract attention from a serious corruption scandal through a continuous anti-Israel and anti-Semitism campaign.”
Saar also announced a ban on deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz and youth minister Sira Rego, a member of the Far-Left Sumar group, a junior partner in Sanchez’s coalition government.
Lego was on his father’s side a Palestinian descent, spending part of his childhood on the occupied West Bank.
Among the measures announced by Sanchez was an arms embargo against Israel.
Other measures included a pledge to increase the assistance of UN agencies for Palestinian refugees known as the UNRWA and to impose an embargo on goods created in Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.
Furthermore, those who directly participate in what Sanchez called Gaza’s “genocide” would not be allowed to enter Spanish territory, the Spanish Prime Minister said.
“We know that all these measures are not enough to stop aggression and war crimes, but we hope to put pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government to alleviate some of the suffering that the Palestinian population is permanent,” Sanchez said.