Spain permanently withdrew its ambassador to Israel on Wednesday as a diplomatic standoff worsened between the two countries over Spain’s opposition to Israeli policies, exacerbated by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s regime.
Ambassador Ana Maria Salomon Perez was recalled 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 against Hamas in Gaza, a policy Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar denounced as antisemitic.
On Tuesday, 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 in May 2024 recalled its ambassador, Rodica Radian-Gordon, 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 told 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.”
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The move marked the latest escalation in a diplomatic spat between the two countries, which have been heavily strained since the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Ties between Jerusalem and Madrid steadily deteriorated over the following two years as Spain’s government expressed increasing anger and frustration against Israel over the war in Gaza.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives for the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris, at the Elysee Palace on January 6, 2026. (Yoan VALAT / POOL / AFP)
Madrid had prohibited sales and purchases of military equipment with Israel from the start of the war; however, last September, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced measures to enshrine the prohibition in law. Sa’ar criticized Spain as leading “a hostile, anti-Israel line,” after which Madrid also recalled its ambassador.
The following month, a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect, though sporadic fighting has continued as Gaza remains divided between Israeli and Hamas-controlled areas.
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.
In May 2024, when Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, announced that it would recognize a Palestinian state, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called in the envoys of those countries, including Perez, to watch a video of Hamas atrocities committed during the October 7 assault.
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