Spain has scrapped an order of 6.6 million euros (£5.7 million) from Israeli companies against millions of bullets after a junior partner of the Union government denies the country’s sustained efforts to hold Israeli liability for its actions in Gaza.
The country’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, is one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s actions during the war in Gaza, questioning whether it follows international humanitarian law and calling the number of Palestine deaths “really unbearable.”
Sanchez’s rhetoric has been strengthened last year by Spain’s decision to formally recognize the Palestinian state and the government’s commitment to buying and selling weapons from weapons since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza, which began with the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
However, it was revealed on Wednesday that the Spanish Ministry of Interior wanted to purchase a 153m round of 9mm ammunition from Israeli company IMI System. The ministry also said that cancellation of the contract would leave Guardia Civic Police without the bullet needed to fulfill their duties.
News of the contract going on has drawn a ferocious response from the left-wing Sumar platform, founded by Yolanda Diaz, Spanish Minister of Labor and one of the nation’s three vice ministers. Sumar asked for an immediate cancellation of the contract, but the leader of the platform’s United left group said he and his colleagues would not tolerate “part of the executives lending the genocide nation.” Israel has denied the genocide allegation being reviewed by the International Court of Justice in the first case filed by South Africa.
The arms contract followed another wedge between the socialists and Sumar, which had already been split into plans to invest 10.5 billion euros in Sanchez to help Spain reach his long-standing NATO commitment to spend 2% of its GDP on defense. Díaz’s platform describes the move as “inconsistent” and “absolutely outrageous.”
On Thursday morning, Sanchez and Diaz’s offices said the contract would be unilaterally cancelled and the import license of ammunition would be denied. Announcing the withdrawal of the contract, the government added that “all paths of negotiation” are exhausted from the issue and legal advice is being sought on the issue.
“The parties that make up the progressive coalition government are firmly committed to the Palestinian cause and peace in the Middle East,” a government source said. “That’s why Spain doesn’t buy weapons or sells them from Israeli companies.”
Sources added that unfulfilled weapons orders from Israel, which were placed by October 7, 2023, will not progress.
