Israel reprimands Spanish diplomat over minister’s ‘river to the sea’ comments

Israel summons Spain’s top diplomat in the country for a reprimand after Spain’s youth minister said that the Spanish public supports a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” says the Foreign Ministry.

The reprimand is delivered by Gilad Cohen, head of the Political-Strategic Affairs Directorate, to Spanish Chargé d’Affaires Francisca Pedrós.

Spanish Youth Minister Sira Rego’s statement, the Foreign Ministry says, “is part of a systematic anti-Israel policy pursued by the Spanish government and its leader, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.”

Rego, who entered the European Parliament in 2019, has a Palestinian father who lives in the West Bank. On October 7, she said that Palestinians have “the right to resist after decades of occupation.”

She also reposted tweets that said the “entire Israeli diplomatic delegation must be expelled from the Spanish State” and called Israel “undemocratic and corrupt.”

In September 2025, Israel barred Rego and Spain’s deputy prime minister from entering the country.

The Foreign Ministry says her most recent remarks”reflect the direction of Spain’s current government: support for a vision that would mean the elimination of the State of Israel. This comes as the Spanish Prime Minister attacks Israel for exercising its fundamental right to defend itself, both against Iran and against Hamas.”