Israeli Embassies Summoned for Clarification Talks with Belgium and Spain
The Israeli embassies in Brussels and Madrid were recently summoned for clarification talks following a dispute that arose between the countries. The subpoenas come after the speeches made by the prime ministers of Spain and Belgium at the Rafah crossing, and in response to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks that Belgium and Spain “support terrorism.”
The leaders of the two countries decided to conclude their visit to Israel with a joint speech at the Rafah crossing, shortly before the release of the 13 abductees in the first instance. Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez emphasized his support for the two-state solution, stating that a humanitarian truce is not enough and that a permanent ceasefire is needed. The prime minister of Belgium also harshly criticized the actions of the IDF, just days after the speaker of the parliament there refused the request of the Israeli ambassador to show a film of the massacre to the members of parliament.
Following the speech of the two leaders at Rafah, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen ordered the ambassadors of the two countries to be summoned for a reprimand conversation. “We condemn the false claims of the Prime Ministers of Spain and Belgium who give a boost to terrorism,” he said. “Israel is acting according to international law and is fighting a murderous terrorist organization worse than ISIS that commits war crimes and crimes against humanity. We will resume fighting after the ceasefire until the elimination of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip and the release of all the abductees.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also strongly condemned their words and criticized the fact that the two prime ministers chose “not to assign full responsibility for the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas, who massacred Israeli citizens and used Palestinians as human shields.”
Tensions are high between Israel and the two European countries, and it remains to be seen how the situation will be resolved.