Sánchez has become one of the EU’s most outspoken critics of Israel, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing genocide in Gaza and calling the joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran an “immense error.”
Critics argue that Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon are hindering peace in the region. In a speech in Andalusia, Sánchez urged for an immediate end to the Middle East conflict, which has triggered a rise in global oil prices and mass displacement.
Spanish, Irish, and Slovenian foreign ministers accused Israel of violating its EU association agreement in a letter to the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, citing the Israeli parliament’s approval of the death penalty and violent actions by settlers in the West Bank as breaches of fundamental human rights.
Madrid’s push to end the association agreement is unlikely to succeed soon, given it needs unanimous support from all 27 EU members.
A German-led group opposing stricter measures is likely to resist the proposal. A European Commission suggestion in September to sanction certain Israeli ministers and suspend trade sections of the agreement failed to gain enough support in the European Council.
Israel’s embassy to the EU did not immediately comment.
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