Spanish
Israel's Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, asserted this Tuesday that the Spanish Government is influenced by the Palestinian fundamentalist group Hamas - which in his opinion - destabilizes the Middle East region.
"When you only let yourself be influenced by Hamas propaganda, like the Spanish government, the only thing you cause is damage and destabilization in the Middle East," said the head of Israeli diplomacy at a press conference in Zagreb, alongside his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Grlic Radman.
"I don't think governments that use slogans or serve Hamas propaganda are relevant to the situation in the Middle East. They have no influence," Saar added, referring to pro-Palestinian initiatives launched in recent months by the executives of Spain and France, among others.
Spain, along with Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia, recognized the State of Palestine last year, a step that the governments of France, the United Kingdom, among others, have also announced for the coming weeks.
"Trying to dictate the end of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over our heads is not fair," the Israeli minister pointed out in the hearing, broadcast live.
Regarding the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Saar said that some European countries, such as Croatia, Germany or Italy - more favorable to Israel - "contributed more than those countries that launched unilateral initiatives, such as Spain, such as France".
"Peace will be achieved in a bilateral context (between Israel and the Palestinians) and not by decisions made in Paris or Madrid," concluded the Israeli minister.
The Spanish government announced this Monday several measures against Israel, including an arms embargo, due to what it called "genocide" perpetrated by Israel in Gaza.
To this end, Spain will approve a royal decree-law that will establish the legal and permanent prohibition of buying and selling weapons, ammunition, and military equipment to Israel.
The Spanish initiative was welcomed on the same Monday by Hamas as "a significant political and moral step within the framework of international efforts to stop the war of genocide, hunger and displacement against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."
More than 64,000 people, many of them civilians and children, have died as a result of the Israeli military response in Gaza to the Hamas terrorist offensive of October 7, 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and about 250 were kidnapped.
