The Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, accused the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, on Monday of spreading "blatant lies" after the head of the Executive pointed to networks linked to Russia and Israel for the dissemination of falsehoods during the migration crisis in Ceuta.
Saar responded to Sánchez's statements through a message posted on social media, in which he rejected that Israel was behind the dissemination of misleading information related to the mass entries recorded in the autonomous city at the end of July.
"He lied again, surprisingly accusing Israel of spreading misleading information about the events in Ceuta. This is a blatant lie," said the head of Israeli diplomacy.
Saar attacks Sánchez's management
The Israeli minister has raised the tone of his response and questioned the management of the Spanish president during the migration crisis.
"Continuing to spread defamatory lies will not distract from Sánchez's shameful inability to manage the affairs of his country," Saar stated.
The statements come after Sánchez rejected pointing to Morocco as responsible for the mass entry of migrants in Ceuta and asserted that there is "no information" that points to the neighboring country as the origin of the crisis.
The President of the Government has instead focused on the circulation of false content on social media during the days before and after the mass entries.
Sánchez points to Russian and Israeli networks
Sánchez has stated that during the crisis there was a coordinated dissemination of falsehoods through networks linked to different actors.
"Indeed, there were Russian and Israeli networks that spread these falsehoods and attacked the Government of Spain and European governments on a very corrosive issue, such as the fight against irregular migration," he declared.
The president has linked these actions with analyses from the European External Action Service (EEAS) of the European Union and has maintained that the content disseminated aimed to attack Spain and other European governments.
According to Sánchez, part of those campaigns would be related to the positions held by Spain on international issues, including its stance on the Gaza war and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The head of the Executive has also mentioned a "far-right international" that he accuses of using the migration issue to attack Spain and Europe.
The Ceuta crisis keeps the political confrontation open
The exchange of accusations between Sánchez and Saar occurs while the management of the migration crisis in Ceuta continues, after the massive entry of around 80,000 people at the end of July, according to the figures handled in the statements collected by Europa Press.
The Government has established a single command, headed by the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, to coordinate the response of the different administrations.
The crisis has also caused diplomatic tensions with other European countries. Italy has maintained border controls for travelers coming from Spain, a measure that Giorgia Meloni's Executive has justified by the migration situation in Ceuta.
In parallel, Spanish authorities continue to work on the identification, referral, and return of the people who remain in the autonomous city, while the Government demands European cooperation to face the pressure on the reception systems.