Spain says Israel’s restrictions on its Jerusalem consulate violate international law

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Israel’s plan to restrict the services Spain provides to Palestinians in its East Jerusalem consulate violates international law, the Spanish foreign minister said on Friday.

During an interview with broadcaster Onda Cero, Jose Manuel Albares said Spain has sent a verbal note to the Israeli government urging it to reverse its decision.

“In the verbal note, we rejected any restrictions on the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem, because its statute is guaranteed by international law and the Vienna Convention… Israel cannot change that unilaterally,” said Albares.

In response to Spain’s recognition of the Palestinian state this week and a Spanish minister’s comments that Palestine will be free from the “river to the sea,” Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that his country would “sever the connection between Spain's representation in Israel and the Palestinians, and to prohibit the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem from providing services to Palestinians from the West Bank.”

He later said this would take effect from Saturday, June 1.

The Israeli foreign minister has also launched other attacks on Spain, saying that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez “is complicit in incitement to the murder of the Jewish people and war crimes”; posting a video on X mixing flamenco music and footage from Hamas attacks; calling the deputy vice prime minister “antisemitic” and “ignorant.”

Ireland and Norway, which also formally recognized the Palestinian state this week, have seen similar attacks.

On Friday, Spain’s foreign minister announced that the three countries plan on issuing “a joint communication” in response to “all the falsehoods” Israel has been spreading about the governments.

In the interview, Albares reaffirmed that Spain supports the Palestinian National Authority and not Hamas.

He said that during a visit by several top diplomats and leaders from the Middle East to Spain this week, they discussed a viable two-state solution, which includes Arab countries normalizing relations with Israel.

“We all know the definitive peace for Israelis and Palestinians will only happen when a realistic and viable Palestinian state exists alongside Israel,” he said.

Albares added that Israel must comply with the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which he called “The Supreme Court of the world.” He said he is advocating for consequences at the EU level if Israel does not follow its measures related to the genocide case.

“International law should not be a la carte and for some countries… What I’m trying to do is end this war, right now, and for the ICJ measures to be applied. If not, everything we’ve been building to achieve peace in the world — international law, the UN — will be demolished in front of our eyes,” said Albares.