Spain permanently withdraws ambassador to Israel as rift deepens

Spain permanently withdraws its ambassador to Israel as a diplomatic standoff worsens between the two countries over Spain’s opposition to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s regime.

The ambassador was summoned back to Spain last September amid a diplomatic row over Spanish measures banning aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from its ports or airspace due to the war in Gaza, a policy Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar denounced as antisemitic.

Yesterday, Spain published an announcement in its official gazette that the ambassador’s position had been terminated. Spain’s Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Tel Aviv will be led by a charge d’affaires for the foreseeable future.

Israel’s embassy in Spain is also run by a charge d’affaires after Israel summoned its ambassador last May in protest of Spain’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.

“The Foreign Ministry confirms the withdrawal of the ambassador to Tel Aviv, who was called back for consultations ‘indefinitely,’” Spanish Foreign Ministry sources tell The Times of Israel, “leaving the Spanish embassy in Tel Aviv under the leadership of a chargé d’affaires, at the same level as the Israeli embassy in Madrid.”

The move marks the latest escalation in a diplomatic spat between the two countries, which have been heavily strained since the start of the Gaza war following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.

Tensions have heightened since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, with Sa’ar accusing Spain in early March of “standing with tyrants” for opposing the war.