The Spanish Parliament approves a recommendation to impose an arms embargo on Israel and Britain suspend free trade agreement
The Spanish Parliament on Tuesday approved a recommendation calling for an arms embargo on Israel.
All political parties, with the exception of the right-wing opposition Popular Party and the far-right Vox party, agreed to the proposal presented by the Sumar coalition, the junior partner in the coalition government, and the opposition parties Podemos and the Republican Left of Catalonia.
347 MPs participated in the vote, with 176 MPs approving the proposal and 171 MPs rejecting it.
Under the recommendation, which calls on the government to take action, it was proposed to ban all types of resources that could contribute to strengthening the Israeli army’s power in its attacks against the Palestinian people, including equipment such as helmets and armor, and even fuel that could be used for military purposes.
The proposal also calls for amending Spain’s foreign trade law to prohibit military contracts with countries involved in or complicit in genocide or crimes against humanity, as is the case with Israel.
Commenting on this, Verónica Martinez, parliamentary spokesperson for the Sumar coalition, said, “Spain cannot cooperate with any country that commits genocide or war crimes, and in the current situation, it should not support the arms industry for Israel, which is committing genocide in Gaza”.
For her part, Podemos leader Ione Belarra called on the cabinet to hold an extraordinary meeting this week and issue a decision to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
On the other hand, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles stated that Spain has not had any arms trade with Israel since October 7, 2023, when the Israeli attacks on Gaza began.
For their part, civil society organizations demonstrating outside Parliament in support of Palestine pointed out that Spain still has nine active contracts with Israeli arms companies and has paid millions of Euros to Israel.
On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the suspension of negotiations on a new free trade agreement with Israel and threatened “further steps” due to the deteriorating situation in Gaza.
He added that the Israeli ambassador to London, Tzipi Hotovely, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform her of the decision.
