New conversation about Biden’s Israel with European leaders that excludes Sánchez

2023-10-23 10:51:32

While the Minister of the Government of Spain, Ione Belarra, called Israel’s defensive actions after the Hamas attack on October 7 “genocide”, Joe Biden spoke this Sunday by telephone with the French Chancellor, Emmanuel Macron, with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and with the Prime Ministers of Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy, Justin Trudeau, Rishi Sunak and Giorgia Meloni, respectively, to reiterate his support for Israel and its right to defend itself from the Islamist terrorism of Hamas. The president of the United States once again switched from Spanish, Pedro Sanchezleaving evidence of the low international weight of our country since the socialist leads the executive.

The White House reported, through a statement, that the aforementioned leaders spoke with satisfaction about the humanitarian aid that has reached Gaza civilians and committed to continue coordinating with partners in the region to ensure “sustained and safe access to food, water, healthcare and other assistance”, as well as to continue close diplomatic coordination, including with “key” partners in the region, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the Middle East and work towards a political solution and lasting peace.

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Furthermore, as reported by Efe, the US, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy committed to maintain “close coordination” to support its nationals in the conflict region, particularly those who wished to leave Gaza, the statement further noted.

Last October 10, The US has already excluded Spain from a joint declaration in which, together with the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, it showed its support for Israel “in its efforts to defend itself and its people”, and in which they made it clear that “the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification nor legitimacy”. It is worth remembering that, previously, Spain was also excluded from the US list of countries that had participated in the evacuation of Westerners in Afghanistan in summer 2021, from the summit of 30 countries organized by the US against cyber attacks in October 2021, as well as, in January 2022, from the meeting called by Biden with a series of European countries to establish a common position in the face of the then more than foreseeable invasion of Ukraine by Russia.