Spain’s decision to recognise Palestine as an independent state is not rewarding terrorism, Israel’s claims otherwise are “nonsense”, according to Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares in an interview on Tuesday (26 March)

In November, during a joint trip with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo to Israel and the Rafah border checkpoint with Egypt, Sanchez first mentioned the possibility of recognising Palestine unilaterally if the EU does not do so.

Then, in early March, Sanchez announced he would push Congress to recognise Palestine before the end of his mandate in 2027.

This sparked anger from Israel, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat stating it “sends a message to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organisations that murderous terrorist attacks against Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures towards the Palestinians.”

“It is nonsense (…) to think that to support the creation of a Palestinian state is to reward terrorism,” Albares said.

He argued that the Palestinian people “have a right to a land and a hope”, which is that of a Palestinian state encompassing the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and this “is not incompatible with (the existence of) the state of Israel.”

“The hope of the Palestinian people and the security of Israel are closely intertwined”, he added.

Sanchez’s pledge

The pledge to recognise Palestine was also included in the electoral pact signed in October 2023 between Sanchez’s PSOE party and the junior coalition partner, left-wing platform Sumar, led by the Vice President of the progressive executive and Labour Minister, Yolanda Díaz.

The recent spat follows a recent joint letter from Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia in which they expressed their readiness to recognise the state of Palestine as the “only way to achieve peace and security” in the region.

“We discussed together our readiness to recognise Palestine and said that we would do so when it can make a positive contribution and the circumstances are right,” the four wrote in a joint statement after an EU summit in Brussels.

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