![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Sanchez_Katz_PC.png\" "\\"Sanchez_Katz_PC\\"\/")
\nSpanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz. (Design: Palestine Chronicle)<\/p>\n
\nSpanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz. (Design: Palestine Chronicle)<\/p>\n
By Palestine Chronicle Staff<\/a><\/strong> \u00a0 \nSpain has reportedly cited \u201cpublic interests\u201d grounds for the cancelation of the arms order.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Spanish government has canceled a munitions contract worth over $7 million with an Israeli firm, following pressure from its leftwing coalition partner Sumar, according to media reports.<\/p>\n On Wednesday it emerged that the interior ministry would go ahead with the purchase of the 9mm ammunition to be used by the Guardia Civil police force.<\/p>\n Responding to its coalition partner\u2019s threat to exit, Spain reaffirms its October 2023 pledge not to provide arms and revenues to Israeli firms \u2014 now and in the futurehttps:\/\/t.co\/g1htXkgtev<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/tQdY3DVgQd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 TRT World (@trtworld) April 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This was despite the ministry announcing last year that it had cancelled the purchase of 15.3m bullets from Israel\u2019s IMI Systems, The Guardian reported<\/a>, because of Spain\u2019s \u201ccommitment to neither buying weapons from, nor selling weapons to, the state of Israel following the outbreak of armed conflict in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n The news was met with an angry response from the Sumar platform, founded by Yoland Diaz, Spain\u2019s labour minister who is also one of three deputy prime ministers, the report said.<\/p>\n Sumar \u201ccalled for the immediate cancellation of the contract,\u201d the report added, while the leader of the platform\u2019s United Left group \u201csaid he and his colleagues would not tolerate \u2018any part of the executive financing a genocidal state.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Absolute\u2019 Commitment<\/p>\n In a statement cited by The Guardian, the platform said its commitment to the Palestinian people \u201cis absolute.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is why we have repeatedly called for a total embargo on the purchase of weapons from Israeli, for the breaking off of diplomatic relations with Israel, for the imposition of sanctions, and for the international criminal court to be supported in the arrest warrants it has issued for Netanyahu and other members of his government and the Israeli army,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n On \u2018Moral Panic\u2019 and the Courage to Speak: The West\u2019s Silence on Gaza<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Reuters cited a government source as saying that the Israeli company \u201cwould be denied permission to import the defence material by the Spanish authorities on \u2018public interest\u2019 grounds, the Interior Ministry would rescind the contract and government lawyers would respond to any subsequent legal claims.\u201d<\/p>\n The Guardian cited government sources as saying that \u201cThe parties that make up the progressive coalition government are firmly committed to the Palestinian cause and to peace in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is why Spain will neither buy arms from, nor sell arms to, Israeli companies,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n The sources also said that \u201cany unfulfilled arms orders\u201d from Israel which was placed before October 7, 2023, \u201cwould not proceed,\u201d the report noted.<\/p>\n IMI Systems, according to Reuters, is owned by Elbit Systems which has been a target of protest by pro-Palestine movements such as Palestine Action.<\/p>\n Criticism of Other Contracts<\/p>\n Spanish politician Irene Montero, however, said<\/a> on X on Thursday that \u201cThis is not about a contract,\u201d adding \u201cthe Government has awarded 9 more contracts and our ports and airports are a stable route for weapons to reach Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n She stressed that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez\u2019s \u201ccommitment to S\u00e1nchez\u2019s commitment to war and rearmament under Trump\u2019s orders also implies complicity with the genocidaires.\u201d<\/p>\n El problema no es anular un contrato. El problema es que hay 9 m\u00e1s adjudicados. El problema es la complicidad del Gobierno con los genocidas \ud83d\udc47\ud83c\udffc pic.twitter.com\/qx6qVsLXUN<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Irene Montero (@IreneMontero) April 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n A representative of the left-wing Podemos party, Montero has previously called<\/a> on the government to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel.<\/p>\n In May last year, Spain became the 140th country to recognize<\/a> the State of Palestine. A month later, the government also announced<\/a> it would join South Africa\u2019s case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide in its war on Gaza.<\/p>\n Rising Death Toll<\/p>\n Since Israel\u2019s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.<\/p>\n On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 51,000, wounding more than 116,000, with over 14,000 still missing.<\/p>\n Israeli airstrikes since Thursday morning have devastated multiple areas in Gaza, killing entire families and targeting shelters for displaced people.https:\/\/t.co\/AE5rLPA8UY<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/O4sWHNqDrG<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Twitter-X-Logo.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n