Israel has condemned the display as “appalling anti-Semitic hatred” and summoned Madrid’s chargé d’affaires
© X / IsraelMFA
Israel
has condemned Spain after a fireworks-filled effigy of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu was blown up during an Easter festival in the
southern town of El Burgo.
The long-strained ties between Madrid
and West Jerusalem have deteriorated even further in light of the
US-Israeli attack on Iran, with Spain emerging as one of the most vocal
Western critics of the aggression.
Last month, Spain permanently
withdrew its ambassador from Israel, formally downgrading the level of
diplomatic relations with the country.
This week, West Jerusalem
kicked Madrid out of a US-backed coordination center in Kiryat Gat that
oversees the Gaza ceasefire, calling it retaliation for opposing Israel
and “defaming” its military.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry called out Spain over the El Burgo festival on Saturday, branding the display an “appalling anti-Semitic hatred” and accusing Madrid of “systemic incitement.” The Spanish chargé d’affaires was summoned over the incident, it added.
Footage
from El Burgo, taken during Easter Sunday festivities, shows the
massive effigy of the Israeli prime minister going up in flames. The
seven-meter (23-foot) figure was packed with 14 kilograms (31 lb) of
fireworks that exploded to cheers from a crowd of onlookers.
El Burgo’s mayor, Maria Dolores Narvaez, defended the act, pointing out that it was a part of a decades-old local “Burning of Judas”
tradition that previously never caused any issues. Speaking to a local
television station, she said that foreign leaders’ effigies had been on
numerous occasions been featured during the festivities.
While Madrid provided no official reaction to the latest
accusations raised by Israel, a Foreign Ministry source told Reuters
they were completely unfounded. “The Spanish government is committed to fighting against antisemitism and any form of hate or discrimination. As such, we totally reject any insidious allegation which suggests the contrary,” the source told the agency.