MADRID, March 11 (Reuters) – Spain permanently withdrew its ambassador to Israel on Tuesday as a diplomatic standoff worsened between the two countries over Spain’s opposition to the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
The ambassador was summoned back to Spain last September amid a diplomatic row over Spanish measures banning aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from its ports or airspace due to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, which Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar denounced as antisemitic.
On Tuesday, Spain published an announcement in its official gazette that the ambassador’s position had been terminated. Spain’s Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Tel Aviv will be led by a charge d’affaires for the foreseeable future.
The move marks the latest escalation in diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have been heavily strained since Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip in October of 2023.
Israel’s embassy in Spain is also run by a charge d’affaires after the country summoned its ambassador last May in protest at Spain’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state.
Tensions have heightened since the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, with Sa’ar accusing Spain in early March of “standing with tyrants” for opposing the war.
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Victoria Waldersee; editing by Charlie Devereux, William Maclean)
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