Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is continuing his anti-Israel rhetoric, defending his country's decision to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest because of Israel’s participation.
In a video posted to social media on Friday, ahead of the Grand Final of the contest to be held on Saturday night in Vienna, Sanchez claimed that withdrawing from the event over Israel's ongoing counter-terrorism operations places Madrid on the proper side of a historical divide.
Sanchez used severe rhetoric to condemn Israel's military campaigns against terrorist networks in both Gaza and Lebanon. Sanchez claimed that the gravity of the regional situation made it impossible for his government to participate in an arena alongside Israeli representatives.
"In the face of illegal war and also genocide, silence is not an option. And we cannot remain indifferent to what continues to happen in Gaza and in Lebanon," Sanchez stated, as quoted by AFP. "This year, therefore, will indeed be different. We will not be in Vienna, but we will do so with the conviction that we are on the right side of history."
The Prime Minister explicitly compared the defensive military actions of the Jewish State to Russia's unprovoked invasion of sovereign Ukrainian territory. He reminded audiences that Russia had been summarily banned from the musical competition following its aggression, an action that Spain had fully endorsed at the time.
"When Russia invaded Ukraine, it was excluded from the contest and Spain supported that decision," Sanchez noted, adding that "Those principles must also be applied when we talk about Israel. There cannot be double standards."
Spain is one of five nations, along with the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland, and Ireland, who withdrew from this year’s competition in protest against Israel's participation.
Israel is represented at Eurovision by Noam Bettan, 28, who secured a spot in the Grand Final during Tuesday evening’s first semifinal.
Sanchez’s remarks come as no surprise, as the Spanish Prime Minister has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel.
Friday’s post came just one day after Sanchez posted a message of support for FC Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, who displayed a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag during the club’s La Liga victory celebrations.
“Those who see waving a national flag as ‘incitement to hatred’ have either lost their minds or been blinded by their shame," Sanchez wrote in a post on social media.
He claimed, “Lamine simply expressed the solidarity with Palestine felt by millions of Spaniards. Another reason to be proud of him."
In November of 2023, Spain’s Ambassador to Israel was summoned by the Foreign Ministry after Sanchez claimed that "Israel is violating international law and is carrying out indiscriminate killings in Gaza."
In April of 2024, Sanchez criticized what he called Israel's "disproportionate response" in the Gaza war, saying it risks "destabilizing the Middle East, and as a consequence, the entire world".
A month later, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares advocated for international sanctions against Israel, citing the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
More recently, the Director General of the Foreign Ministry, Eden Bar Tal, held a reprimand call with the head of the Spanish Embassy in Israel, Francisca Pedrós.
The conversation took place in response to a shocking antisemitic display in which an effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was detonated in El Burgo, a small town near the southern city of Malaga.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)