Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has ignited an international firestorm after publicly calling Israel a “genocidal state”.

He made the comments on Wednesday during a heated parliamentary session. It also marks the first time the socialist leader has used such language, despite his government’s long-standing alignment with anti-Israel rhetoric.

The GateWay Pundit reports: The remarks came in response to Gabriel Rufián, a leftist Catalan MP, who accused Sánchez of hypocrisy for maintaining trade ties with Israel amid its ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Sánchez, pushing back sharply, stated:

“I want to make one thing clear here, Mr. Rufián. We do not do business with a genocidal state, we do not.”

The statement, echoing the language of Sánchez’s far-left coalition partner, the Sumar party, represented a new level of official condemnation. Until now, the prime minister had refrained from personally using the term, even as Spain formally joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging genocide by Israel.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned Sánchez’s statement and swiftly summoned the Spanish ambassador, Ana Salomon, to its Jerusalem office for a formal reprimand. The Ministry accused Sánchez of spreading inflammatory and unfounded accusations, saying his words distort the reality of the ongoing conflict and ignore the suffering of Israeli victims.

Elsewhere in Europe, similar rhetoric emerged. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, addressing the city council, referenced the term “genocidal violence” and cited Holocaust scholars critical of Israel’s actions. Her remarks were also met with swift pushback. Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands Modi Ephraim said he was “deeply dismayed,” calling her speech a distortion of both historical memory and present-day realities.

Sánchez’s sudden use of the term may reflect mounting internal pressure from the Sumar party and other far-left factions in his government. Sumar leader Yolanda Díaz, who also serves as Spain’s second deputy prime minister, has repeatedly referred to Israel as genocidal and has demanded a total freeze on Spanish-Israeli trade.