In the United States, it is customary to name laws after the member of Congress who initiated them – a well-known example is the Helms-Burton Act to tighten the Cuba embargo. However, the 2007 reform of the law on the control of foreign trade in defense and dual-use goods, which the Spanish Congress debated on Tuesday, could be named less after its proponent than after its addressee: the “Gaza Law.” It is a legislative initiative that appears to be tailored to the population of the Gaza Strip, which is being systematically decimated by the Israeli army. The approval of this reform for parliamentary consideration has more political than immediate legal relevance. Firstly, acceptance for further processing does not necessarily mean that the regulation will actually be published in the Spanish Official Gazette (BOE) and become law – numerous precedents prove the opposite. Secondly, the current text could be significantly modified in the future.
The central innovation of the reform would be to legally enshrine an automatic embargo on arms sales to countries under investigation for crimes against humanity by international courts with recognized jurisdiction over Spain. This currently applies to the State of Israel in the proceedings before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Such a law would end the government’s current discretionary and interpretive scope. The goal is to close the loopholes that have created doubts since the beginning of the current escalation about the actual suspension of arms exports, to which the executive branch had actually committed. To dispel these doubts among its partners and its own electorate, the PSOE has agreed to support the reform despite a critical report from the Ministry of Economy.
The government is thus continuing the path it took a year ago when it recognized the State of Palestine, thus taking a pioneering role among the major EU countries. Spain has thus positioned itself as a bridge to the so-called Global South, which is increasingly disconnecting from the West. Last September, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution with an overwhelming majority (124 votes in favor, 14 against, 43 abstentions). This resolution called, among other things, for a halt to the supply of “arms, ammunition, or related equipment to Israel if there is reasonable cause to suspect that they could be used in the occupied territories.” The EU was divided: Spain, along with Ireland and France, voted in favor, Hungary and the Czech Republic voted against, while the majority (including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland) abstained.
The UN General Assembly does not have the authority to impose embargoes; this competence is reserved to the Security Council. For this reason, the following month, the Turkish representative addressed a letter signed by 52 states to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. It called for the adoption of “immediate measures” to halt arms deliveries to Israel. Among the signatories was only one European country, Norway – the same country that recognized the Palestinian state on the same day as Ireland and Spain. The signatories also included Latin American countries such as Bolivia and Colombia, which have severed diplomatic relations with Israel, as well as Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. However, the majority of the signatories were Arab and Islamic countries, acting either individually or through the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which also supported the call.
Appropriately, Prime Minister Sánchez attended the Arab League summit in Baghdad, Iraq, last weekend as a guest. There he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Together with him, Sánchez intends to submit a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly calling for an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip. This blockade adds to the massacres caused by indiscriminate bombings the silent deaths of famine—a method used as a weapon of war in the 21st century.
The unbearable horror of the destruction in the Gaza Strip prompted the United Kingdom, France, and Canada to threaten Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday with “concrete measures” if he did not stop the killing. This later prompted British Foreign Secretary David Lammy to suspend negotiations on a trade deal with Israel. EU foreign ministers agreed in Brussels on Tuesday to review the association agreement with Israel—a demand already made by Spain and Ireland a year ago. “The time for words is over, the time for action has come,” stated Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.
One of the measures the EU could take is the imposition of an arms embargo against Israel, as the Spanish Congress now supports. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 69% of the weapons delivered to Israel between 2019 and 2023 came from the United States. Germany was the second largest exporter with 30%, followed by Italy with 1%. Romania and the Czech Republic also sell military equipment, while the Netherlands and the United Kingdom supply components for the US F-35 fighter jet. Spain and Norway deny supplying arms despite allegations to the contrary. “All countries that continue to sell arms to Israel must be aware that they risk complicity in genocide,” warned Amnesty International.
In the face of the ethnic cleansing taking place in broad daylight in its immediate neighborhood, Europe appears to be awakening from its long lethargy. Last September, the British government announced the suspension of 30 arms licenses that could be used in the bombing of Gaza. The Spanish Congress is now calling for a legal ban on all exports. These measures may seem belated, hesitant, and perhaps even hypocritical. But the message to Israel is becoming increasingly clear: Those who act barbarically cannot belong to the circle of civilized nations.
