The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has communicated that the Israeli chargé d'affaires in Madrid, Dana Erlich, was summoned again this Wednesday to the Ministry's headquarters to express to her that it is "inadmissible" to prolong the "illegal detention" of the Spanish activist from the Gaza flotilla arrested by the Israeli authorities.
Albares has detailed this management during his speech in the Plenary Session of the Congress of Deputies, where he reported on the Government's actions in relation to the Global Sumud Flotilla, intercepted by the Israeli Navy on April 29 in international waters near Greece, as well as on the arrest of the Hispanic-Palestinian Saif Abukeshek, detained along with the Brazilian Thiago Ávila.
The plenary session, which coincides with the Andalusian electoral campaign, was not on the Lower House's ordinary calendar, but the Executive decided to accept the request for appearance made by Sumar and several of its parliamentary partners, including ERC, Bildu, Podemos, and BNG. Apart from Albares, no other member of the Government has attended the debate.
The minister explained that the Israeli diplomatic representative was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this Wednesday "to convey to her the inadmissible and unacceptable nature of prolonging the detention of our citizen", after an Israeli court rejected the appeal against the extension of his arrest, which will be maintained at least until next Sunday.
"Our position is clear regarding the illegal detention of Saif Abukeshek and his transfer to Israel, we demand his immediate release and we have conveyed this to the Israeli authorities," Albares has underlined, specifying that he himself has spoken in these terms with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, and that he is in contact with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil to coordinate efforts.
The Spanish Executive maintains that "it is an action contrary to International Law, after an approach in international waters, and must be immediately released," insisted the head of Foreign Affairs, remarking that "International Law, including humanitarian law and the law of the sea, must be respected."
In Albares' opinion, "it is unacceptable that in international waters vessels are boarded, their crews detained, and the vessels disabled, without respecting the most basic international norms".
Demand for respect for freedom of worship and the ceasefire
At another point in his speech, the minister stressed that Israel "has to guarantee the fundamental right to freedom of worship for Christians and Muslims, respecting in all cases the 'statu quo' of Jerusalem and Bethlehem" and called for "violent attacks" to be avoided, such as the one suffered by a French nun in Jerusalem, which he described as "contrary to the diversity and secular coexistence of the city of Jerusalem and the Middle East".
Albares has also called for the full implementation of the ceasefire in Lebanon "to give an opportunity to direct negotiations, which are ultimately the only real way to guarantee the stability and security" of this country and of Israel. "Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected and Spain demands that all parties do so," he emphasized, directing his message to both the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Shiite party-militia Hezbollah.
In this context, it has reiterated the Government's condemnation of the attacks against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in which Spain participates with a contingent of more than 600 soldiers, and has once again warned Israel that it cannot detain Spanish soldiers after the incident registered a few weeks ago. "Spanish soldiers are never touched, they are always respected," it concluded.
Opposition: accusations of partisan use and criticism of management
The opposition groups have harshly questioned the appearance. The PP deputy Carlos Floriano has accused the Executive of making a "partisan, interested, and opportunistic use" of consular protection for Spaniards and has reproached them for convening an extraordinary Plenary session for the detainee in Israel, but not for other citizens arrested in countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, or Iran.
"One cannot look the other way in the face of despicable dictatorships like the Venezuelan one and at the same time pretend to give lectures in other scenarios," Floriano has stated, criticizing that Albares defends resorting to "discreet diplomatic efforts" in other cases of nationals imprisoned abroad while, in his opinion, he tries to "get some votes" in Andalusia "waving the Palestinian flag."
For his part, the Vox spokesperson in the Foreign Affairs Committee, Carlos Flores Juberías, has rejected the plenary session's call, which he attributed to an attempt to "cover up the failures" of the Government and "hide the shame" of the PSOE in the context of the trial against José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García for alleged corruption. Furthermore, he has denounced that the Executive has left Albares alone in this session.
Flores Juberías has reproached the minister that the Government "is busy trying to get out of jail" the Hispanic-Palestinian activist, whom he has described as a "felon" and has linked to the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), "an external branch of Hamas". At the same time, he has accused the Executive of leaving "defenseless, mistreated and forgotten" other Spaniards who have suffered accidents abroad or have been arrested in states like Iran or Venezuela.