Spain will ask the European Union on Tuesday to "break" its association agreement with Israel, considering that the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu "violates international law" with its military campaigns, said the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, this Sunday. He wanted to make it clear that Spain is a “friendly nation” to Israel, but insisted that this does not imply sharing in a “violation” of international law that is resulting in suffering, pain, and death. “This Tuesday, the Spanish government will take to Europe the proposal that the European Union break its association agreement with Israel,” because “any government that violates international law and, therefore, violates the principles and values ????of the European Union, cannot be a member of the European Union; it's that simple,” he stressed at a pre-election campaign rally in the Andalusian region. On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of the member states are meeting in Brussels to analyze the war in the Middle East, and Sanchez called on all of them to support the Spanish proposal, reiterating his “no” to an “illegal” war that represents a “colossal mistake.” “That is why I ask those who started this war to stop this war and to put a stop to Netanyahu,” he stressed. The Israeli response was not long in coming.

A rhetorical escalation in diplomatic friction

The Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel entered into force in 2000 and includes a clause that makes the relationship contingent on respect for human rights. Spain first questioned the agreement in February 2004, when Sanchez and the then Prime Minister of Ireland sent a joint letter to the European Commission requesting an assessment of whether Israel was fulfilling its human rights obligations after the start of the war in Gaza.

Since then, Sanchez—whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused of launching a “genocidal threat” against Israel—has gradually raised his tone on this issue,Now, with the war in Lebanon, leading up to Sunday's declaration,which comes after Ireland, Slovenia, and Spain sent a letter to the Commission on Friday requesting that "the EU-Israel Association Agreement be discussed at the next meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council."