World
Spanish PM voices regret that his country does not have the ‘nuclear bombs’ to deter Israel
Statement by Pedro Sánchez comes amid spiralling diplomatic war between Spain and Israel
September 11, 2025 13:45
Statement by Pedro Sánchez comes amid spiralling diplomatic war between Spain and Israel
September 11, 2025 13:45Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has expressed regret that his country does not have the nuclear weapons to “stop Israel”.
In a statement amid a diplomatic row between Spain and the Jewish state, the prime minister said: “Spain as you know, doesn't have nuclear bombs, nor aircraft carriers, nor large oil reserves. We alone can't stop the Israeli offensive.
"But that doesn't mean we won't stop trying because there are causes worth fighting for even if it's not in our sole power to win them.”
Referring to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Sánchez added: “That isn’t defending yourself; that’s not even attacking. It’s exterminating defenceless people. It’s breaking all the rules of humanitarian law.”
In response, the Israeli government accused Sánchez’s administration of spreading “wild and hateful rhetoric” and of using a “continuous anti-Israel and antisemitic attack” to distract from the many corruption allegations that have been levelled against the Spanish prime minister.
Prime Minister Sánchez of Spain regrets the fact that he doesn't have nuclear bombs or aircraft carriers to attack Israel with. It's not even shocking - he's simply articulating the hatred that most on the extreme left feel.pic.twitter.com/nI2HJf6M8J
— Never Again (@Never_Again2020) September 11, 2025
On Monday, before news broke of Israel’s Doha operation, Spain recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv after Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, accused Sanchez of antisemitism. Sánchez said at the time that he had “genuine doubts” about whether Israel complied with international humanitarian law.
In response, Sa’ar announced that Spain’s labour minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, and the youth minister, Sira Rego were banned from entering Israel.
Sa’ar said that Díaz was “exploiting Prime Minister Sánchez’s political weakness and dragging him, step by step, into implementing her anti-Israel and antisemitic vision”.
The Spanish foreign ministry called the Israeli government’s words “false and slanderous”, and that the entry ban for Díaz and Rego was “unacceptable”. It added that Spain would not be “intimidated in its defence of peace, international law and human rights”.
The Spanish foreign ministry highlighted that Spain had granted citizenship to 72,000 Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492, and had immediately condemned Hamas’s “horrific attacks” of October 7, 2023.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.