Israel says it will stop work of Spanish consulate for Palestinians

Jerusalem, Undefined – AFP

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Friday he had decided to “sever the connection” between Spain’s diplomatic mission and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over Madrid’s recognition of a Palestinian state.

“I have decided to sever the connection between Spain’s representation in Israel and the Palestinians, and to prohibit the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem from providing services to Palestinians from the West Bank,” Katz said in a post on X.

It was not immediately clear how Israel would carry out the threat.

Asked by AFP about the practicalities and consequences of Katz’s announcement, the foreign ministry did not immediately comment.

Katz said his decision was made “in response to Spain’s recognition of a Palestinian state and the anti-Semitic call by Spain’s deputy prime minister to… ‘liberate Palestine from the river to the sea'”.

Spain, Ireland and Norway announced Wednesday their decision to recognise the State of Palestine later this month, drawing rebuke from Israel.

The foreign ministry on Thursday warned that Israel’s ties with Ireland, Norway and Spain would face “serious consequences”.

Katz in his Friday announcement also criticised remarks on X by the Spanish government’s number three Yolanda Diaz, a far-left party leader and labour minister.

Welcoming the announcement of the formal recognition of a Palestinian state, Diaz had said: “We cannot stop here. Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea.”

The rallying cry refers to historic Palestine’s borders under the British mandate, which extended from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean Sea, before the creation of Israel in 1948.