After an internal government scandal, Spain has sworn to leave a contract it signed ordering 15 million bullets from Israel.
Spain is unusual in its harsh public criticism of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
But the €6.6 million contract to acquire millions of rounds of 9 mm ammunition goes against Spain’s claim that it has kept an embargo on purchase of weapons from Israel from 2023.
PM Pedro Sánchez, who has called Israel a genocidal state, tried to justify this by saying that such investments are meant to “deter those who might think of attacking Europe.”
Sànchez now finds himself in a bad situation towards both left and right, which he’ll have to answer to in parliament.
Apparently the purpose of this purchase was to outfit Spain’s Civil Guard police force.
It’s a sticky situation: once the truth was exposed, the coalition in power moved to cancel it — but a deal of such magnitude cannot be annulled without causing a legal and financial mess.
Antonio Maíllo, general coordinator of the United Left party of Sumar, called it the “biggest crisis” faced since taking office in 2023.
Why? Because Sumar risks being booted from its five seats in the Council of Ministers.
The solution they’ve found: terminating the contract unilaterally, at Spain’s expense — which is in turmoil thanks to its massive defence spending as is.
It’s not hard to image the sour faces of Spanish tax-payers. And let’s face it: they’ve surely signed other deals on the sly as well.
