Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 12, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleSpain summons Israeli diplomat over controversial remarks by Netanyahu's office, accusing Spanish PM of genocidal threats amid diplomatic tensions.
MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares summoned the Israeli charge d'affaires in Madrid on Friday over recent comments about Spain made by the office of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Albares summoned Dana Erlich - currently Israel's top diplomat in Madrid - to "categorically reject the false and slanderous statements from the Israeli prime minister's office", Spain's foreign ministry said in a statement.
In an X post on Thursday, Netanyahu's office had accused Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of making "genocidal threats", in reference to Sanchez's announcement on Monday of new measures against Israel-bound arms and fuel deliveries.
Sanchez had justified the measures by saying Spain lacked nuclear bombs, aircraft carriers or large oil reserves to exert pressure on Israel to stop what he qualified as "genocide".
Israel has strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide, and it is fighting a case at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that accuses it of genocide.
The U.S. State Department also expressed concern over Madrid's limitations on ships and aircraft delivering weapons or military-grade jet fuel to Israel, as well as entry bans on the Israeli national security and finance ministers.
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo and David Latona, editing by Inti Landauro and Susan Fenton)
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares summoned the Israeli charge d'affaires to reject comments from Netanyahu's office that accused Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of making 'genocidal threats'.
Netanyahu's office accused Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of making 'genocidal threats' in response to Sanchez's announcement of new measures against Israel.
Sanchez stated that Spain lacked nuclear bombs, aircraft carriers, or large oil reserves to exert pressure on Israel to stop what he described as 'genocide'.
Israel has strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and is currently fighting a case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that accuses it of genocide.
The U.S. State Department expressed concern over Spain's limitations on ships and aircraft delivering weapons or military-grade jet fuel to Israel, as well as entry bans on the Israeli national.
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