‘From the river to the sea’: Israel summons Spanish diplomat, accuses Madrid of backing its elimination

Israel summoned Spain’s top diplomat for a formal reprimand after Youth Minister Sira Rego said Spanish society supports “a free Palestine from the river to the sea” — referring to the territory stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including Israel. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the position “entails the destruction of the State of Israel.”

Rego has a history of inflammatory statements on Israel. On October 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists massacred Israeli men, women and children, burned homes and took hostages, she took to X to declare that Palestinians had “the right to resist after decades of occupation, apartheid and exile.” Days later, she accused Israel of “exterminating a people for 75 years” and reposted calls to expel Israel’s diplomatic delegation from Spain.

Jerusalem has accused Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government of pursuing a “systematic anti-Israel policy,” saying Madrid has “lost its moral compass.” Rego was already barred from entering Israel in 2025 amid escalating tensions between the two governments.