Spain’s chargé d’affaires in Israel, Francisca Pedrós, was summoned Monday for a reprimand at the Foreign Ministry by Gilad Cohen, head of the ministry’s Political-Strategic Division.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar ordered the move following remarks by Spain’s Minister for Youth and Children Sira Rego, who said the Spanish public supports a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” a slogan that Israel says can be interpreted as calling for the elimination of the State of Israel.
Spanish youth minister: ‘The public supports a Palestinian state’
Although summoning Spain’s senior diplomatic representative for a reprimand is an unusual step, Rego’s remarks come amid a prolonged deterioration in relations between Israel and the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
In March, Spain decided that its ambassador to Israel, Ana Salomón, would not return, lowering the level of diplomatic representation between the countries so that both were represented by chargés d’affaires rather than ambassadors.
Rego’s latest statement was also consistent with her previous positions. She has repeatedly spoken out sharply against Israel and disputed accounts of atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7.
Rego was born in Valencia in 1973 and grew up in the village of Anata near Jerusalem, where her Palestinian father still lives. On the morning of the October 7 massacre, she wrote on social media: “Palestine has the right to resist after decades of occupation, apartheid and exile.”
‘Palestine has the right to resist.’ Rego’s post on the morning of the October 7 attack
(Photo: X)
Rego was also among 21 of the European Parliament’s 705 members who declined to condemn the October 7 massacre. She has accused Israel of “genocide” and disputed reports that Hamas terrorists beheaded babies, raped women and murdered hundreds of Israelis at the Nova music festival.
Her social media accounts have also featured extensive criticism of Israel.
Spain has taken a series of increasingly confrontational steps toward Israel under Sánchez. Among dozens of national delegations that left the United Nations General Assembly hall before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, Spain was the only European country to walk out.
In May 2024, Spain joined several other countries in formally recognizing a Palestinian state. In September 2025, the Spanish government legally consolidated a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, saying the measure was intended to help stop what it described as “genocide in Gaza” and support the Palestinian population.