Spain refuses to purchase Israeli weapons

Spain has suspended a contract with an Israeli company that had previously agreed to supply the Spike LR2 anti-tank system to the Spanish army.

According to the Spanish newspaper El País, citing sources in the Ministry of Defense, the agency decided to freeze the contract worth about EUR 285 million.

The contract was signed back in 2023 with Pap Tecnos, the Spanish branch of Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Last week, Spanish Secretary of State for Defense Amparo Valcarce announced that the government is “developing exit plans to avoid any dependence” on Israel.

Although the Spanish government claims that it “does not have any arms purchase or sale projects with Israel,” under pressure from civil society and opposition leftist parties, it admits “some programs depend on technology provided by an Israeli company, and the Ministry of Defense is working to break this dependence.”

At the same time, the Spanish media note that the missile systems currently used by the ground forces are outdated and need to be replaced with modern analogs similar to those used by allied countries.

Research by the Ministry of Defense has shown that only an Israeli company has the necessary technical competence to meet these needs.

According to the tender terms, about EUR 285 million was provided in funding to equip the Army and Marine Corps with Spike LR2 missiles over five years.

In addition, in the coming days, the Spanish parliament is expected to vote on a bill to impose an arms embargo on Israel. In April, Spanish politicians banned the current government from purchasing ammunition from an Israeli company.

The reason for such decisions was the sharp deterioration in relations between the countries after Spain officially recognized Palestine as an independent state in May 2024 and openly criticized the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip.

“Spain joins more than 140 countries that have already recognized Palestine as a state. This is a historic decision whose sole purpose is to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said at the time.

The government also expressed hope for the creation of a Palestinian state within the West Bank and Gaza Strip with its capital in East Jerusalem under the leadership of the Palestinian National Authority.