From bias to bigotry: How Sánchez is leading Spain into antisemitism

Spain’s judiciary announced Thursday the creation of a task force to investigate “human rights violations in Gaza” with the stated goal of providing evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

At first glance, this might appear as a legal initiative rooted in justice. In reality, it is yet another manifestation of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s increasingly hostile and one-sided campaign against Israel.

The prosecutor’s decree, issued by Álvaro García Ortiz, makes no mention of the massacres committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, nor of the atrocities inflicted by Hamas and other terrorist organizations against civilians in Gaza itself. 

Instead, the narrative is framed exclusively around Israel, as though the Jewish state were the sole actor in the conflict.

This deliberate omission is telling. It reflects not a pursuit of truth, but a political agenda that ignores terrorism, excuses extremism, and demonizes Israel.

Spain, under Sánchez’s leftist coalition, has already recognized a Palestinian state unilaterally in May 2024, and now stands as one of the most hostile governments in Europe toward Jerusalem.

It has even joined the deeply politicized South African case at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of “genocide”—a grotesque inversion of reality.

Most recently, Sánchez has floated the idea of excluding Israel from international sporting events, and even hinted that Spain might boycott the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel participates. Such measures go beyond foreign policy posturing; they reflect a campaign of isolation and delegitimization aimed at Israel itself.

The Slide Into Antisemitism

At this stage, Sánchez’s government is no longer merely “anti-Israel.” Its actions and rhetoric cross into the territory of modern antisemitism: holding Israel to impossible double standards, denying its right to self-defense, and seeking to ostracize the world’s only Jewish state from international platforms.

This is not “criticism of policy”; it is the systematic targeting of Israel while giving a free pass to terrorists like Hamas. It is the demonization of a democratic state defending its citizens from genocidal violence.

By pandering to his far-left allies and engaging in populist grandstanding, Pedro Sánchez risks isolating Spain diplomatically, alienating allies, and aligning his country with the world’s most radical voices. 

This strategy may score him short-term political points at home, but it will tarnish Spain’s reputation as a credible actor on the global stage.

In the end, Sánchez’s descent into anti-Israel hostility could backfire. 

What he dresses up as “humanitarian concern” increasingly looks like ideological obsession—and history will not be kind to leaders who confuse justice with prejudice.