The chargé d’affaires of the Spanish embassy in Israel, Francisca Pedros, was summoned today (Sunday) for an urgent clarification meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.
The summons was issued at the direct instruction of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and follows a global controversy sparked by videos and photographs published in the past 24 hours showing severe acts of violence by the Spanish police against participants in the flotilla to Gaza, who had been previously expelled from Israel.
The Spanish government had previously summoned Israeli diplomats for rebuke following the interception of the flotilla and the videos published by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir showing himself taunting the passengers while they were restrained in a stress position and being manhandled by Israel Prison Service guards. Minister Sa'ar denounced those videos as well, calling them 'deliberate damage to Israel, not for the first time.' The condemnation was echoed by numerous other Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The clarification meeting was led by the head of the Foreign Ministry's political division, Ambassador Yossi Amrani, who presented Israel's firm position to the Spanish chargé and during the meeting stressed the hypocrisy of the Spanish government.
He stressed, "The hypocrisy of the Spanish government that sends its provocateurs to Israel and then condemns Israel for its lawful actions to uphold a legal maritime blockade is made evident while Spanish police use severe violence against those flotilla participants."
"The head of the division demanded to understand why until now, nearly 24 hours since the severe acts of violence by the Spanish police, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez or any of his ministers have not deemed it appropriate to condemn the officers' violence, while they are always quick to condemn Israel on any pretext."
The head of the division clarified to the chargé that the Spanish authorities only dealt with provocations carried out by some of the flotilla participants toward Israel, while Israel faced far more serious provocations by many hundreds of participants in each of the six most recent flotillas.
He emphasized that nevertheless the Spanish authorities used severe violence not employed by Israel. In addition, Amrani demanded an explanation as to why the Spanish government has not yet acted regarding flotilla activist and Spanish citizen Saif Abu Keshk, who is alleged to have ties to Hamas and was subjected last week to U.S. sanctions.