Spanish Prime Minister Compares Netanyahu to Putin as National Court Opens ‘War Crimes’ Investigation Into Israeli Officials

Latest Developments

Spanish Prime Minister Assails Israel: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez unleashed a tirade against Israel during a speech to parliament, accusing the country of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and calling on the European Union to suspend its cooperation agreement with the Jewish state. “No one that tramples on the EU’s founding principles — or that uses hunger and war to annihilate a legitimate state — can be a partner of the European Union,” he said on July 10. Sanchez also compared the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to those of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.
Spanish Court Investigates Israeli Officials: Sanchez’s statements came days after Spain’s national court launched a criminal investigation into Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, and several other senior Israeli military officials, over the IDF’s June 9 interdiction of the sailboat, the Madleen. The 12 activists on board, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and French Palestinian activist Rima Hassan, attempted to breach the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza, whose purpose, according to Katz, is primarily to “prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas.” The case, which was filed by Spanish citizen Sergio Toribio and the Committee for Solidarity with the Arab Cause, alleged that the interception and brief detention of the activists constituted “war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Spain to Participate in Anti-Israel ‘Emergency Summit’: Next week, Spain will participate in an “emergency summit” of The Hague Group, whose founding in January was praised by Hamas. The 10-nation group, whose mission is to coordinate “legal, diplomatic, and economic measures against” Israel, expects to announce “concrete actions to enforce international law through coordinated state action — to end the genocide and ensure justice and accountability.” In May 2024, Spain formally recognized a Palestinian state, and in June 2024, it became the first EU member state to request to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

FDD Expert Response

“The old joke that ‘nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition’ doesn’t quite ring true here. The Spanish government’s pursuit of Netanyahu on bogus and insulting charges of war crimes is an entirely predictable development given the degree to which Madrid has embraced the Hamas narrative following the October 7, 2023, massacre.” — Ben Cohen, FDD Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Manager

“The Spanish prime minister turned reality on its head, falsely accusing Israel of genocide while the Jewish state faces a genocidal enemy. But this is not a harmless mistake. This is a Western European country giving cover to Hamas — with its declared strategy of maximizing Palestinian suffering and death — and any other party seeking to use international law as a weapon to weaken democracies. Madrid’s Israel policy increasingly puts Spain in the company of dictatorships and enemies of the West.” — David May, FDD Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst