Spain’s King Felipe has found himself at the centre of a bitter debate over the country’s stance on Gaza, with the far-right and pro-Israeli lobbyists accusing him of being manipulated by the country’s government and falling prey to anti-Semitic influence.
During a speech last week before the United Nations, the king issued a severe rebuke of Israel. Citing the bombing of civilians, including hospitals and schools, he described such actions in Gaza as “repugnant to our human conscience” and bringing “shame upon the international community”.
He added: “We call on you, we implore you, we demand that you stop this massacre now.”
Such language is broadly in line with the position of the left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez, who has been one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israel since it responded to the Hamas attacks of October 7th, 2023.
While underlining Israel’s right to defend itself, Mr Sánchez has repeatedly warned about the need to protect Palestinian civilians. Last year, his government, alongside those of Ireland and Norway, acknowledged a Palestinian state.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images
In recent weeks, Mr Sánchez and his coalition government have intensified their criticism, accusing Israel of genocide and announcing measures against the administration of Binyamin Netanyahu, including barring two government ministers from entering Spain and announcing a weapons embargo.
Earlier this month, Mr Sánchez praised pro-Palestinian protesters who had disrupted the Vuelta a España cycling race because of the involvement of an Israeli team, preventing the event’s final stage from being completed in Madrid.
Spain, along with Italy, has also deployed a warship to assist the international flotilla which is attempting to take aid to Gaza.
Israel has responded by repeatedly accusing the Spanish government of anti-Semitism.
The left-wing Más Madrid party has sought to use the monarch’s speech before the UN as the basis for a cross-party statement in the Madrid regional assembly.
The conservative People’s Party (PP) dismissed the proposal as “war tourism”. However, Gaza has become a thorny issue for the PP, which has struggled to find a unified voice on it, with some in the party expressing outrage at Israel’s actions while others staunchly defend them.
Further to the right, however, support for Israel is much more overt and many on the far right have expressed fury at the king for the views he expressed before the UN.
Hermann Tertsch, an MEP for the Vox party, described King Felipe’s speech as “a globalist socialist and totalitarian pamphlet, slipped in by the criminal Sánchez”. He added that the Spanish prime minister had “stained the king by putting words in his mouth”.
Juan Carlos Girauta, a far-right commentator and former Vox politician, said the speech had been “a trap” for the king, set by Sánchez.
Spain’s political right portrays Mr Sánchez as a radical whose willingness to engage with Catalan and Basque separatists is threatening the country’s democratic order. He insists such moves are simply necessary to ensure parliamentary stability.
A photograph of the king and Sánchez sharing a joke during the UN conference has caused others to draw the conclusion that, far from being duped, the monarch is fully in step with the prime minister on this issue.
In his speech, the king was careful to praise Israel, calling its people “wise and ancient”, while also mentioning Spain’s deep historic links to the Jewish people. They were forcibly converted or expelled in the 15th century and, to make amends, a 2015 law has allowed Jews around the world who can trace their lineage to be granted Spanish nationality.
But the Spanish-based pro-Israeli lobby organisation ACOM was unimpressed by the king’s mention of that legislation.
“The king of Spain is no longer a friend of Israel,” it said in a statement, accusing him of “anchoring his reputation to the destiny of a corrupt, criminal and miserably anti-Semitic government”.