Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Israel intends to prohibit the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem from providing services to Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. His announcement came in the wake of numerous acknowledgements of Palestine by Ireland, Spain, and Norway.
The Israeli foreign ministry stated that in response to these recognitions, it had decided to summon the ambassadors of the three nations for a formal reprimand session. Spain was particularly criticised by the institution, which claimed that it had decided to “reward Hamas’s murderers and rapists” with recognitions.
Simultaneously, the Spanish Vice President, Yolanda Diaz, made a statement suggesting that recognizing Palestine was not sufficient – the land “from the river to the sea” should be liberated. Katz labelled this remark as antisemitic.
Both Israel and Palestine are signatories of the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations of 1962, Article 6 of which states:
The sending State may, after notifying the States concerned, entrust a consular post established in a particular State with the exercise of consular functions in another State, unless there is express objection by one of the States concerned.
While this provision would potentially allow a country to exercise consular functions in more than one state, it does not exempt Israel from the right to express an explicit objection, a challenge that could block the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem from providing services to Palestinians.
Despite such contentions, the International Court of Justice recently ordered Israel to halt its military operations and any other activities in the Rafah governate.