Borrell criticizes Israel’s “verbal aggression” against Spain and Ireland after recognizing Palestine

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BRUSSELS, May 27. () –

The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, charged this Monday against Israel’s “verbal aggression” against Spain and Ireland after announcing his decision to recognize the State of Palestine.

“I wouldn’t call the reaction that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had diplomatic, the escalation is anything but diplomatic,” he said at a press conference from Brussels after the meeting with the EU foreign ministers.

In this sense, he has assured that Israel’s response is a “verbal aggression”, which in his opinion is “unjustified and extreme”, although he has stressed that the Government of Spain “has taken it upon itself to reject it”.

This message comes in the midst of Israel’s offensive against Spain and Ireland following the decision of both European countries to recognize the State of Palestine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has threatened to “harm those who harm it” and has stressed that “the times of the Inquisition are over.”

For the moment, Spain has avoided entering into the fray, after pointing out that it is preparing a joint reaction with Ireland and Norway upon understanding that Israel’s attitude “is not within the diplomatic courtesy and customs of the Vienna Convention.” Madrid asks “not to fall into provocations” or move away from the final objective of recognizing Palestine and contributing to the two-state solution.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced on May 22 that Spain will recognize the State of Palestine starting this Tuesday, a step taken on the same day as Norway and Ireland and that has unleashed harsh criticism from Israel and applause from the Palestinian authorities, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the countries and blocs of the Middle East region.