The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that the Council of Ministers will request the suspension of the association agreement with Israel. Sánchez explained that he will transfer this request to the European Union and has asked for the support of the 27 for this initiative. The Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, has already criticized Sánchez for his announcement.
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In his speech at the first pre-campaign event alongside María Jesús Montero in Gibraleón (Huelva), the president said that Spain is not against the people of Israel but is against Netanyahu’s policy in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
In his speech at this event in support of María Jesús Montero, who was the number two in his executive and is starting the electoral race on May 17 with a considerable disadvantage, Pedro Sánchez considered the Middle East war “an immense error” and recalled that it is causing millions of displaced people and billions of euros in economic losses.
Sánchez has reproached the conservative groups, PP and Vox, for their reaction to the conflict unleashed in the Middle East, which he considered, at best, lukewarm because “They kneel before the powerful,” Pedro Sánchez assured.
The agreement on trade relations between Israel and the European Union came into force in 2000, laying the foundations for free trade between that country and the group of 27. It is estimated that the volume of business between the Union and Israel exceeds 42 billion euros.
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Last Tuesday, April 14, a European Citizens’ Initiative reached one million signatures from citizens from at least seven member states, asking the EU to fully suspend its Association Agreement with Israel, Europa Press reports.
Now the Commission will have to verify the signatures and, if it is confirmed that the established thresholds are met, the Community Executive will have to respond within six months, indicating the measures it will adopt, if any.
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, on Sunday lashed out at the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, in response to his announcement that Spain will propose this Tuesday in Brussels that the European Union break its association agreement with Israel.
“We will not accept a hypocritical reading from someone who has a relationship with totalitarian regimes that violate human rights, such as Erdoğan’s Turkey, Maduro’s Venezuela. A government that receives thanks from the brutal regime of Iran and terrorist organizations, and that has dedicated itself to spreading antisemitism,” Saar stated in a message in Spanish on his X social media account.
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