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Spain permanently withdrew its ambassador to Israel on Tuesday over its opposition to US-Israeli strikes against Iran, fueling already-escalating tensions between the two countries.
The Spanish government officially terminated the embassy in its official gazette and said its embassy in Tel Aviv will now be headed by a permanent charge d’affaires.
Madrid also recalled its ambassador last September after Israel criticized Spain’s decision to bar planes and ships carrying weapons to Israel from using Spanish ports or airspace. Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, called the move a bad move at the time.
When a reporter asked Wednesday if Spain, in general, cooperates with the US, President Donald Trump replied, “No, they don’t. I think they don’t cooperate at all.”
WORLD LEADERS DIVIDE IN FACE-TO-FACE ACTION AS US-ISRAEL HITS IRAN WITH COORDINATED OPERATIONS
People walk past damaged buildings following a strike at a police station, during the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, on March 4, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
“Spain, I think it was very bad,” said the president. “Too bad. Not good at all. We might cut off trade with Spain.”
“I don’t know what Spain is doing,” Trump continued. “They’ve been very bad at NATO. They’re protected, they don’t want to pay their fair share. And they’ve been that way for years.”
Trump added that the Spanish people are “good,” and the leadership is “not so good.”
TRUMP PUSHES NATO ALLIES FOR SUPPORT AS HEGSETH CONTINUES TO PRAISE THEM
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before departing Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., on Wednesday criticized Spain’s decision to permanently recall its ambassador to Israel as “hard for me to accept.”
“Spain is a member of NATO, and the United States and Israel are working together against the Iranian regime that clearly wants to destroy the Jewish State, attack the West, and wants to purify Islam in its image,” Graham wrote in X.
Spain has recalled its ambassador to Israel, the latest flare-up in rocky relations between the two countries in recent years. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
“The Nazi religious regime in Iran is the problem, not the Jewish State,” the senator continued. “I hope that Spain’s actions will not encourage the brutal, fanatical regime in Iran – which tortures its own people – to hold on.”
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Relations between Spain and Israel have deteriorated significantly since Israel launched its military operation in Gaza as a result of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas.
Israel also reduced its diplomatic presence in Spain last May after Spain recognized the state of Palestine, placing its embassy in Madrid under the charge d’affaires office.
