2023-11-23 13:25:55
The journey is a signal. Immediately after the first meeting of his new cabinet, the re-elected Spanish Prime Minister headed to Israel. In Jerusalem on Thursday, Pedro Sánchez chose unusually clear words for Europeans. Israel’s response to the “terrible” Hamas attacks on October 7 “should not mean the death of innocent people, including thousands of children,” Sánchez said after a meeting with Israeli President Itzhak Herzog. Israel must comply with international law.
Hans-Christian Rößler
Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb based in Madrid; previously correspondent in Israel.
Unlike many heads of government, Sánchez had not yet paid a solidarity visit to Israel. He is now traveling to Ramallah and Egypt accompanied by the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. Sánchez is making it clear that he wants to be at the forefront of shaping the EU’s Middle East policy. His country holds the rotating EU Council Presidency, which Belgium will take over after the turn of the year.
Sumar made recognition of Palestine a condition
Both heads of government are taking a harder line towards Israel than, for example, Germany. At home they are under domestic political pressure: Government members in both states are calling for punitive measures to be imposed against Israel; In Belgium, the government recently fended off a move to ban settlement products.
Madrid and Brussels voted in favor of the UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. At the EU summit at the end of October, Sánchez called for a longer humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and came into conflict with Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the time.
Since then, Sánchez has been campaigning for a Middle East peace conference and international recognition of the Palestinian state, which should also be responsible for the Gaza Strip. Madrid proudly points out that more than 80 states and numerous organizations have already agreed to such a peace conference after the end of hostilities. Most Western European states, apart from Sweden, do not yet recognize Palestine as a state.
Alexander De Croo (left), Prime Minister of Belgium, and Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, in Jerusalem: Image: dpa
Sánchez’s partner Sumar had made such immediate and “unconditional” recognition a condition for a coalition. The head of government promised to work for a common European recognition of the Palestinian state both in Spain and at EU level; He doesn’t want Spain to go it alone for the time being. He also wants to promote the two-state solution in the Middle East. The Palestinians should also take responsibility for the Gaza Strip.
His left-wing coalition partners go much further. Sumar accuses Israel of “ethnic cleansing.” Sumar leader and Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz is calling for Israel to stop supplying weapons, impose sanctions and open an investigation into war crimes.
Published/Updated: Recommendations: 415 Renate Töpfer, Institute for Demoscopy Allensbach Published/Updated: Recommendations: 139 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4
The two Podemos ministers who were the most harsh critics of Israel are no longer members of the new government. But Sumar appointed Sira Rego, a Spanish woman of Palestinian origin, who describes Israel’s actions as “genocide” as the new youth minister.
The Podemos ministers came to the election of Sánchez with a Palestinian kefiya scarf around their necks, the rest of the Sumar faction with pins in the shape of a watermelon, a symbol of the Palestinians’ struggle for freedom. The Basque Bildu party, on whose votes Sánchez depends, is also calling for sanctions against Israel.
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