Israel summons Spain chargé d’affaires over Gaza flotilla criticism and ‘hypocrisy’ claims

Israel summons the chargé d’affaires of the Spanish embassy to demand clarification on Spain’s treatment of activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla that returned from Israel, the Foreign Ministry says in a statement.

During the meeting with Francisca Pedrós, Foreign Ministry Political Director Yossi Amrani “pointed to the hypocrisy of the Spanish government, which sends its provocateurs to Israel and then condemns Israel for its lawful actions to enforce a legal naval blockade — while at the same time Spanish authorities employed severe violence against those same flotilla participants,” according to the statement.

Spanish police on Saturday detained four people at Bilbao airport following clashes that broke out after the activists returned home, with videos of the incident showing police beating activists with batons.

The incident came days after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparked a diplomatic incident last week over a video he released showing him taunting the activists as they were forced to kneel on the floor with their hands bound. The video triggered an international outcry, with dozens of countries condemning Israel’s treatment of the detained activists.

Spain, a leading European critic of Israel, issued one of the sharpest condemnations of Ben Gvir’s behavior and called on the European Union to suspend its trade agreement with Israel.

Amrani demanded an explanation as to why Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez or any Spanish ministers “have still not seen fit to condemn the Spanish authorities’ violence, while they are always quick to condemn Israel on any pretext whatsoever,” the ministry’s statement adds.