MADRID (AP) \u2014 Spain summoned Israel\u2019s acting ambassador in Madrid Friday in response to comments made by the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s office that accused the European nation\u2019s prime minister of threatening Israel.<\/p>\n
Spanish Foreign Minister Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares called in Dana Erlich, Israel\u2019s charge d\u2019affaires in Spain and the highest-ranking diplomat in the country \u201cto categorically reject the false and slanderous statements from the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s office,\u201d an official at Spain\u2019s Foreign Ministry said. <\/p>\n
The Foreign Ministry official was not authorized to speak publicly and declined to be named.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the latest development in an ongoing diplomatic tit-for-tat between the two countries that ensued after Spain\u2019s prime minister announced measures Monday<\/a> to pressure Israel to end the Gaza war.<\/p>\n In a post Thursday on social platform X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said Spain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez had made a \u201cblatant genocidal threat,\u201d in reference to comments made by the Spanish leader when he announced the steps the Spanish government was taking. <\/p>\n \u201cSpain, as you know, doesn\u2019t have nuclear bombs, nor aircraft carriers or large oil reserves. We alone can\u2019t stop the Israeli offensive,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said in a televised address Monday. <\/p>\n The measures included an embargo on weapons, ammunition and military equipment sold to or from Israel and blocking Israel-bound fuel deliveries from passing through Spanish ports. <\/p>\n Since then, Israel and Spain have each banned a pair of ministers from the opposite country.<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s government has been an outspoken critic of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza<\/a>, which began after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7, 2023, and abducted 251 hostages. <\/p>\n Israel\u2019s offensive has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians<\/a>, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants.<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n