Sánchez ignores his partners' requests to break relations with Israel and demands the recognition of Palestine

The PP and the PNV ask what exactly is going to be recognized and Feijóo demands that the step be taken "along with more important countries"

MADRID, 10 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has not listened to the requests that several of his partners have made to him to go further with Israel, even considering breaking diplomatic relations, vindicating the position maintained until now and ensuring that Spain is already "prepared." to recognize Palestine.

During the debate in the Plenary Session of the Congress of Deputies to talk about the last European Council and Morocco, Sánchez reaffirmed his criticism of Israel, ensuring that its response is "absolutely disproportionate", but he has also demanded the "urgent" release of the hostages held by Hamas and has once again condemned the terrorist attack carried out on October 7.

Likewise, he has insisted on the need to recognize Palestine "because it is fair, because the social majority demands it, because it is also in the geopolitical interest of Europe and because the international community will not be able to help the Palestinian State if it does not recognize its existence." ", in addition to being a question outside of ideologies.

"Spain is prepared to recognize the Palestinian State," he stressed in his initial intervention, although he has not given any clue as to whether this will happen imminently, after several of the spokespersons for his parliamentary partners, such as Podemos or Bildu, have demanded that it be done "tomorrow" or that "a date" be set.

The president has also not responded to calls for him to do more to respond to the situation in Gaza. Thus, Sumar's spokesperson, Íñigo Errejón, has defended that "in Gaza what is happening is a genocide and, in the face of this genocide, a total arms embargo, the purchase and sale of weapons, and it is necessary to break the business relationships".

The leader of Podemos, Ione Belarra, has gone further, demanding not only the end of the sale of arms but also the breaking of diplomatic relations with Israel, something that has also been supported by Bildu spokesperson, Oskar Matute.

"It is about doing more and taking concrete measures, about betting on an arms embargo, economic sanctions, the breaking of diplomatic relations" as well as "immediate and effective recognition of the Palestinian State," said Matute, while ERC spokesperson, Gabriel Rufián, has demanded that action be taken to bring the "genocidal" Benjamin Netanyahu to justice.

However, Sánchez has not entered into these demands, limiting himself to acknowledging that like them he feels "an enormous frustration at not being able to stop this war" although he has vindicated what the Government has done both from a diplomatic and declarative point of view since The conflict broke out, betting early on a peace conference and demanding a two-state solution.

"I believe that we are honestly doing what we can and what we must," he claimed, underlining that this is being recognized by many Arab countries and also by the Palestinians themselves, and celebrating that the position defended by Spain is also making headway at the European level.

For their part, both the PP and the PNV have shown their doubts about the recognition of Palestine. Thus, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has said that his party does not question the recognition, given that it supports the two-state solution included in its own electoral program, but he does not believe that the conditions for it are met.

Feijóo has maintained that "how and when is key to contributing to a permanent solution" to the conflict. "Recognition must be carried out as a result of a negotiating process and must have sufficient critical mass of more countries with weight," he added, after Sánchez had highlighted that Ireland, Malta and Slovenia are willing to take the step alongside Spain.

After this, Sánchez has asked him to clarify when the PP considers that Palestine should be recognized "if not now" and if he shares the position of former president José María Aznar regarding the fact that there is no Palestinian State. Furthermore, he has disgraced him for demanding that he do so with more important countries: "Is this your proposal for international politics, depending on what others decide and do?"

Feijóo has warned him that "the recognition of a State without the conditions being met for it to be viable can harm the Palestinians." "You know it, but you are blinded by this desire for prominence," he has blamed him, after demanding that he not be carried away by the "arrogance" of believing that he alone can resolve an 80-year-old conflict.

"I'm not telling you not to recognize the Palestinian State, I'm telling you not to do it alone. What borders is the State going to have? What population is the State going to have? What democratic regime is the State going to have? Will it be demilitarized?" he asked the president.

The PNV spokesperson, Aitor Esteban, has also spoken along similar lines. "We don't have any problem, but exactly what would we be recognizing?" he asked Sánchez, acknowledging that "as a wake-up call to Israel" it is fine but questioning the viability.

Thus, he stressed that the Gaza Strip has been "reduced to nothing" by Israel and in the West Bank there are "islands" because International Law has not been respected with the Israeli settlements. "And who does it represent? Who is the truly representative Government, the Palestinian Authority? Who will make Israel comply with this declaration of a new Palestinian State?" She added. For this reason, Esteban has warned against "creating sensations that later become disappointments."

The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has been much more blunt. "We will never support a Palestinian state controlled by its Hamas supporters and controlled by Qatar," he told the president. "You can support with conditions, but not in these circumstances," he stressed, ensuring that his party does not feel "any type of shame or fear" in saying so.