Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned Spain’s chargé d’affaires, Francisca Pedrós, on Monday to protest remarks by Spanish Minister of Youth and Children Sira Abed Rego.
The Foreign Ministry said Rego had claimed that the Spanish public supports a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” a statement used by pro-Palestinian Arabs and long viewed as a statement calling for the destruction of Israel.
The ministry accused the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of pursuing a “systematic anti-Israel policy” and pointed to Rego’s previous refusal to condemn the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre. It also noted that Israel barred her from entering the country in September 2025.
“The Spanish government has lost its moral compass,” the Foreign Ministry said, accusing Madrid of turning Israel into “a punching bag for its foreign policy.”
The ministry further accused Spain of backing a position that “entails the destruction of the State of Israel” while criticizing Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and Hamas.
The diplomatic dispute is the latest in a series of clashes between Jerusalem and Madrid. In November 2023, Israel summoned Spain’s ambassador after Sánchez claimed that “Israel is violating international law and is carrying out indiscriminate killings in Gaza.”
Sánchez again criticized Israel in April 2024, describing its response in the Gaza war as “disproportionate” and warning that it could “destabilize the Middle East, and as a consequence, the entire world”.
The following month, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares called for international sanctions against Israel over the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
In May, Sánchez defended Spain’s decision to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest because Israel was participating, saying the move meant Spain was on “the right side of history”.
His remarks came a day after he expressed support for FC Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, who displayed a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag during celebrations following the club’s La Liga victory.