During an exchange in Spain’s Congress, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Israel a “genocidal state”—an escalation in his already harsh rhetoric about the Jewish State.
Sánchez made his remark, which drew strong condemnations from Israel and Jewish groups, in response to a question about trade with Israel from a lawmaker, Gabriel Rufián.
“I’ll clarify one thing, Mr. Rufián. We don’t trade with a genocidal state. We don’t. I believe I explained from this platform the other day what we’re talking about, when some statements were made that weren’t true,” Sánchez said.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it condemns and rejects the allegation, and that it will summon Spain’s ambassador to Israel for a dressing down.
Spain is on record as accusing Israel of genocide-related actions since it joined South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Criminal Court, along with Ireland, a fellow EU member state, and other countries.
The European Jewish Congress condemned the Prime Minister’s words in a statement on X.
