The Spanish government presents itself as one that fights for peace, and Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) as one of the international leaders working hardest for a ceasefire in Gaza and for recognition of the Palestinian state. Compared with figures such as German chancellors Scholz and Merz, American presidents Biden and Trump, or British leaders Sunak and Starmer, Sánchez may sound supportive of the Palestinian cause—but looking good by comparison with rabid genocidal maniacs is cheating.
In truth, despite all the kind words and promises of solidarity with the Palestinian people, Sánchez and his government have been opportunistic hypocrites. They cannot hold a candle to true leaders who have shown genuine commitment to the Palestinian cause and to human rights—such as Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, or the South African legal team that brought the genocidal, terrorist state of Israel before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Despite the fact that the peoples making up the Spanish state overwhelmingly declare themselves anti-war, the state itself profits from war and genocide as one of its most lucrative industries. Spain ranks ninth among the world’s top arms exporters, responsible for 3% of global military exports.
Over the past 20 years, Spain has sold more than €84 million worth of military equipment to the Zionist state. Pedro Sánchez’s government has traded the most with Israel. As Nicolás Ardila and Alejandro de Santiago noted in their article of 9 September 2025:
“In total, from 2005 to the first half of 2024, Spain has sold €84,872,875 worth of weapons and dual-use technology to Israel, according to the Subdirectorate General for International Trade in Defence and Dual-Use Material. Of this figure, €49 million corresponds to the sale of dual-use technology, i.e., technology that has both civilian and military applications. This includes items such as machinery, toxins, propulsion systems, information security, avionics and sensors, among other capabilities. With regard to armaments, Spain has sold just over €35 million worth to Israel in the last two decades, notably including bombs, torpedoes, missiles, infrared imaging equipment, sights and targeting equipment, and ammunition.”
For years, Spanish presidents have engaged in pure hypocrisy—such as José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s 2009 claim that “the weapons we sell to Israel have not been used to kill Palestinians.”
Such absurd and demonstrably false statements may reflect the government’s awareness that these trade relations violate the eight criteria of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP, including “respect for the international commitments and obligations of Member States”; “respect for human rights in the country of final destination”; the “internal situation in the country of final destination, as a function of the existence of tensions or armed conflicts”; “preservation of regional peace, security and stability”; and the “behaviour of the buyer country with regard to the international community, as regards in particular its attitude to terrorism, the nature of its alliances and respect for international law”.
In 2022, the Sánchez government authorised arms exports to Israel worth €9.3 million, though deliveries totalled only €2.3 million. Yet as analyst Alejandro Pozo points out, even more significant are Israel’s weapons sales to other countries—since “the occupation is very expensive.” Although the figures remain opaque, Spain is known to have purchased more than it sold from Israel, which markets its weapons as “combat-proven”—tested on the bodies of Palestinians and Lebanese. According to the Centre Delàs d’Estudis per la Pau’s report Businesses Proven in Combat, many of these weapons were tested in the Gaza Strip, which Israel has long treated as a laboratory.
Since 2023, the Spanish government has continued doing business with Israel, allowing companies that profit from genocide to operate in Spain and permitting the transit of military shipments through Spanish ports, airports, and NATO bases. This pattern of half-truths and deception reveals the political and media trickery of the Sánchez government.
Between October 2023 and January 2024, the government expressed its “strongest condemnation” of attacks on Gaza’s civilian population and concern for the humanitarian situation—but stopped short of announcing an embargo or suspending arms sales. The response remained purely diplomatic. Meanwhile, on 7 October, both Sumar and Podemos refused to condemn Hamas’s actions and instead called for an end to the occupation.
On 23 January 2024, weeks after the International Court of Justice case brought by South Africa, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares claimed on Cadena Ser radio that “since 7 October 2023, there have been no arms sales to Israel.” Sánchez repeated the same claim in Congress in April 2024: “Since 7 October, Spain has not carried out any arms sales to Israel, none whatsoever.”
In reality, Spain not only purchased €1.027 billion worth of weapons from Israel but also sent ammunition there. As journalist Olga Rodríguez reported on 8 July 2024, “Since the beginning of the massacre in Gaza, Spain has not suspended imports of military equipment from Israel. Furthermore, it has continued to award contracts to Israeli military companies, including Elbit Systems and Rafael, the first and third largest in Israel’s defence sector.” Rafael is a public Israeli company; Elbit is private but maintains deep strategic ties with the Israeli Armed Forces.
In April 2024, public pressure and Sumar’s efforts forced the cancellation of a contract to purchase ammunition from IMI Systems worth €6.6 million. Yet Rodríguez reported that the government had already signed 31 contracts for Israeli weapons since October 2023, totalling over €1.041 billion. On 19 August 2024, the Ministry of Defence formalised another contract with PAP Tecnos, a Rafael subsidiary, worth €289,256 for maintaining remote-controlled weapon systems.
Unsurprisingly, further investigations continue to uncover additional contracts and deals.
In September 2025, the government triumphantly announced it was “consolidating” a total arms embargo on Israel—supposedly banning imports of defence equipment, dual-use technology, and products from illegal settlements. It also pledged to deny requests for transit of fuel that could be used militarily. But this “embargo” contains a glaring loophole: the Council of Ministers can grant exceptions “when the application of the prohibition would undermine the national interest.” The policy also says nothing about banning contracts with Israeli subsidiaries abroad or halting financial support from banks like Santander and BBVA, which together fund Israel’s war machine to the tune of nearly $4 billion, according to the Centre Delàs report Armed Banking and Its Complicity in the Genocide in Gaza (October 2024). Conveniently, arms purchases spiked just before the embargo took effect.
Ships and aircraft involved in the genocide
On 16 May 2024, the Spanish government announced that it would prohibit ships carrying weapons bound for Israel from docking in Spanish ports. In practice, these routes have continued. Only public pressure has prevented some ships from being serviced. Researchers from Progressive International and the Palestinian Youth Movement documented 1,185 military shipments—over 13,000 metric tonnes—between May and September 2024. This complicity of Spanish ports does not seem to have changed since then, with monthly reports of such shipments.
Spanish airports have also facilitated the genocide, with more than 60,000 pieces of weaponry departing from Zaragoza since 2023. In September 2025, the government again reiterated that it would prohibit ships and aircraft carrying weapons to Israel, but violations were quickly reported. Days later, Podemos denounced the refuelling of a military ship in Valencia, and in October 2025, Barcelona’s port workers’ union condemned the arrival of the Zim Virginia, carrying weapons from the US to the genocidal Israeli army.
The Spanish government and the flotilla
Public outrage has intensified, culminating in the suspension of the Vuelta a España cycling race in September 2025 due to Israel’s participation.
Under pressure, the government dispatched a warship to escort the Gaza aid flotilla in October 2025. Yet hours before the flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces, the Spanish vessel withdrew, citing “security risks” and claiming that “the mission of the flotilla is commendable and legitimate, but the lives of its members must come first.” The government even urged the activists to abandon their attempt to break the blockade.
This gesture—combined with the government’s failure to respond to Israeli attacks on Spanish-flagged vessels—has fuelled widespread discontent. Sánchez’s administration has limited itself to vague threats of “legal action” against Israel.
All these half-truths and contradictions have popularised the term PSOED—a shorthand for the PSOE’s repeated deceptions, false solidarity, and empty gestures.
