Congress takes first step toward a full arms embargo on Israel

MadridThe day after calling for Israel's expulsion from Eurovision, the same day that Spain urged the EU to review its association agreement With the country led by Benjamin Netanyahu, and with a rally outside Congress, Pedro Sánchez had no choice but to vote in favor of a total arms embargo on Israel. Netanyahu began his parliamentary journey this Tuesday thanks to the votes of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) and also Junts (Junts). "Do not use this law as a political weapon or as an ideological coven," he warned. However, Junta deputy Isidre Gavín only opposed it and accused the promoters of taking it into consideration, and now the amendment process is opening. Often, procedures are shelved until the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) decides to unblock them. In fact, on the same day that this initiative was being voted on in Congress, Defense Minister Margarita Robles already cooled off the request for hourly purchases from Israel. "If these are products that are absolutely essential for the security of our military, it remains to be seen," she noted in statements to the press at the entrance of the EU Defense Council this Tuesday in Brussels, reports. Gerard Fageda.

Sources from the Moncloa also downplayed the scope of this "unilateral" legal reform and pointed out that European and international regulations also come into play. The arms trade is regulated by several laws and treaties that are outside the exclusive Spanish sphere: there is the European Common Position of 2008 and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which establish some cases in which the export of defense and dual-use material is prohibited, and Israel complies with them. Despite the doubts within the Spanish government, Alejandro Pozo, an expert from the Delàs Center for Peace Studies, makes it clear that "Spain has the sovereignty to do so." "Are there penalties and consequences? Yes, but if you want to do it, you can do it," he emphasizes. Spanish legislation already provides grounds for denying exports, but this initiative creates the legal concept of embargo, which would entail revoking current authorizations and preventing new ones.

The Civil Guard contract

The proposal voted on provides for the embargo of any material or item used in the manufacture of weapons, aircraft fuel, instruments that could be used for military purposes, and much more. Specifically, this broad interpretation calls into question the argument the PSOE has used in recent days to maintain that, as of October 7, 2023, it will neither export nor import weapons to Israel. The Delàs Center revealed that there had been 46 contracts with Israeli companies since the offensive in Gaza, and Sánchez discredited the report, claiming that the acquisitions did not involve weapons or ammunition, or were very specific parts for Spanish security manufacturing. All of this came to light following the Civil Guard's contract with an Israeli company for the supply of bullets, which Sánchez decided to cancel, clearly disavowing Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who is appearing in the Lower House this Wednesday.