Israel reprimands Spain over blowing up of Netanyahu effigy in decades-old ceremony
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An effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was blown up in El Burgo, Spain, in a celebration that Israel's foreign ministry branded anti-Semitic.
PHOTO, SCREENSHOT: REUTERS, X/@ISRAELMFA
- Israel reprimanded Spain's diplomat after a large effigy of Netanyahu was blown up in a Spanish town.
- Israel's Foreign Ministry accused Spain's government of "anti-Semitic hatred" and "systemic incitement", which Spain denied.
- The Spanish town's mayor said they previously used effigies of Trump and Putin; Spain and Israel have ongoing diplomatic tension.
AI generated
MADRID - Israel said on April 11 it had reprimanded Spain’s most senior diplomat in Tel Aviv over the blowing up of a giant effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Spanish town this week.
The 7m-tall figure was packed with 14kg of gunpowder in El Burgo, a small town near the southern city of Malaga, in a decades-old ceremony on April 5, mayor Maria Dolores Narvaez told local television.
“The appalling anti-Semitic hatred on display here is a direct result of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government’s systemic incitement,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X, which highlighted a video clip.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the video.
“The Spanish government is committed to fighting against anti-Semitism and any form of hate or discrimination. As such we totally reject any insidious allegation which suggests the contrary,” a Spanish Foreign Ministry source said in response.
El Burgo’s Ms Narvaez said the town has previously used effigies of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the annual event.
Residents of Coripe, Seville, in southern Spain, carrying an effigy depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 5, with portraits of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on its chest. Each Easter Sunday, residents of Coripe choose a “Judas” from among public figures they consider deserving of symbolic punishment for their actions. The puppet is knocked down and set on fire.
PHOTO: EPA
Spain has been an outspoken critic of the US and Israeli military campaigns in Iran and Lebanon, despite US threats to punish uncooperative NATO allies.
Spain and Israel have been embroiled in a long-running diplomatic row which began over the Gaza war. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said a Spanish ban on aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from its ports or airspace due to Israel’s military offensive was anti-Semitic.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares accused Israel of violating international law and the two-week ceasefire after a massive wave of airstrikes across Lebanon this week.
Mr Netanyahu said on April 8 that Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire and Israel’s military was continuing to strike Hezbollah with force.
Mr Sanchez, who has emerged as a leading opponent of the Iran war, has closed Spanish airspace to any aircraft involved in a confrontation he has described as reckless and illegal. REUTERS
