Israeli minister blasts Spain’s plans to recognise Palestinian state

Name: GEN-Z VS GENOCIDE: HOPE FOR HUMANITY?
Uploaded: 2024-05-19T18:58:50.000Z
Duration: 4 min 23 s
Description: GEN-Z VS GENOCIDE: HOPE FOR HUMANITY?

In Madrid, Amichai Chikli said Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez’s plans to recognise Palestinian state would be ‘rewarding’ Hamas attack

Sanchez is expected to announce on Wednesday the date on which Madrid will recognise a Palestinian state along with several European Union partners

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Amichai Chikli, Israel’s diaspora affairs minister, speaks at the Europa Viva 24 event in Madrid, Spain on Sunday. Photo: Bloomberg

Agence France-Presse

Published: 2:58am, 20 May 2024Updated: 4:55am, 20 May 2024

An Israeli minister in Madrid on Sunday criticised Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s plans to recognise a Palestinian state, saying this would be “rewarding” the attack carried out by Hamas against Israel.

Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli was speaking in the Spanish capital at a meeting of global far-right leaders organised by Spain’s Vox party called Viva 24.

“Unfortunately, the current prime minister of Spain, Sanchez, believes that the Palestinians should be rewarded for the massacre – that this is the time to give them a state,” he told the meeting.

Spain has been one of Europe’s most vocal critics of Israel’s Gaza offensive, which began on October 7 after Hamas militants launched their deadly attack into southern Israel.

04:23

GEN-Z VS GENOCIDE: HOPE FOR HUMANITY?

Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta. had agreed to take their first steps towards recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.

The Socialist premier is expected to announce on Wednesday the date on which Madrid will recognise a Palestinian state along with several European Union partners.