Spanish Diplomats Put Breaks on Palestinian Embassy Due to ‘Standard of Living’ in West Bank: Report

After formally recognizing a Palestinian state, Spanish diplomats are reportedly balking at the prospect of opening an embassy in the West Bank city of Ramallah due to security and standard-of-living issues, according to a report from a right-wing Spanish newspaper.

According to the report in OK Diario, diplomats housed in Spain’s consulate in Jerusalem and embassy in Tel Aviv said that they did not want to leave Israel due to “standard of living and security” reasons.

As a result, the Spanish government is reportedly looking to bring diplomats from Madrid who are already assigned to other countries to the West Bank, potentially adding significant financial costs to the Spanish government’s decision.

Spain, Norway, and Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state last month, prompting outrage in Israel, whose foreign minister described the move as “incitement to genocide” against the Jewish people.

The report lists a host of other concerns from Spanish diplomats about the prospect of opening an embassy in Ramallah, including logistical complications in getting to Ramallah from Jordan or Tel Aviv.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in May that Spain is recognizing a unified Palestinian state, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, under the Palestinian Authority (PA) with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on borders that were in place before the Six-Day War in 1967.

The PA currently exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, while its rival, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, rules Gaza.

Spain and Ireland have been among the most vocal critics of Israel since Oct. 7, when Hamas invaded the Jewish state from neighboring Gaza and launched the current war. The Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and abducted over 250 others as hostages in their rampage, the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign in Gaza aimed at freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas.

It remains unclear how exactly Spain, Norway, and Ireland envision Gaza being incorporated into a Palestinian state if Israel does not pursue its goal of fully removing Hamas from power and eliminating its terrorist infrastructure due to international pressure to halt its campaign.