Israel's acting ambassador: 'It is time for Spain to decide who its allies are'

Israel's acting ambassador to Spain, Dana Erlich, warned that “it is time for Spain to decide who its allies are,” in an interview with the Catalan News Agency on Monday, March 10. 

Erlich said that hostility and boycott efforts targeting Israel could ultimately affect Spain’s security. 

She argued that Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, whose military wing is designated as a terrorist organisation by the European Union, have already shown that they pose a threat not only to Israel and the region but also to Europe.

Israel recalled its ambassador from Madrid in November 2023 in response to remarks by Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez, in which he denounced human rights violations in the Gaza Strip. 

Diplomatic ties between the countries have since been strained, and tensions worsened further when Spain recognised Palestine as a state in 2024.

Since then, Israel has kept Dana Erlich in her post on an acting basis as the highest Israeli diplomat in Spain. 

In the interview, she acknowledged that diplomatic relations between the two countries are at a difficult point, although she insisted that Israel has always regarded Spain as a "partner and ally."

Rejects accusations of 'genocide' in Gaza

A central issue in the ongoing dispute between Spain and Israel is the Spanish government's public accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

In response, Dana Erlich rejects describing Israel's response to Hamas's October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel, which sparked the current conflict, as "disproportionate," as well as the use of the term "genocide."

"I am concerned and troubled by the trivialisation of legal terms that are used selectively and without proper verification," she says.

According to estimates by the United Nations, around 70,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, about 32% of them children.

Genocide, under international law, refers to acts committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

In September 2025, a United Nations commission found that "Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

‘Urgent’ offensive against Iran

Dana Erlich justifies the current military operation by Israel and the United States in Iran as necessary to urgently neutralise what she described as the threat posed by the country's Islamic regime.

"Iran is an illegitimate regime that has been attacking Israel for decades and that massacres its own people," Erlich states. 

Erlich welcomed what she described as the European Union's recognition of the threat posed by Iran, pointing to the deployment of European forces to Cyprus. 

She also said she agreed with remarks by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, who has said that "no tears should be shed" for the Iranian regime.

Iran praises Spain’s stance

Pedro Sánchez has been one of the most outspoken international critics of the conflict. 

Repeating the slogan "No to war," Sánchez argues that the offensive by the United States and Israel is an extraordinary mistake that violates international law.

In the interview, Erlich notes that Hamas and Iran have congratulated Sánchez's government for its response to Israel. 

"The countries of the European Union and NATO are working together to confront this threat from Iran, which is not only directed at Israel, and Spain is part of this group of countries," she warns.