Spain has canceled another arms deal with Israel, the Spanish Defense Ministry said Tuesday, confirming local media reports, as Madrid and other European governments urged sanctions on Jerusalem due to the Gaza war.
The cancellation will affect the purchase of SPIKE LR2 anti-tank missile systems with an estimated value of 285 million euros ($325 million). The systems would have been developed in Spain by Pap Tecnos, a subsidiary of Israel’s Rafael Advance Defense Systems, according to local press.
The deal included 168 launchers and 1,680 missiles, according to Israel’s market daily Globes, which added that Spain might purchase American-made Javelin missiles instead.
The Rafael deal was finalized four days before the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists invaded southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the Gaza war.
Responding to Spanish reports that the deal was scrapped, Rafael said it was unaware that Madrid had reneged on the purchase.
Spain had in April canceled an order for 15 million Israeli-made bullets. The government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had been briefly thrown into disarray after he had announced the purchase would go forth despite earlier promising to scrap the deal. Sanchez canceled the sale after his hard-left coalition partners threatened to resign.
Spain is a long-time critic of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Speaking in the Spanish parliament last month, Sanchez called Israel a “genocidal state.”
His foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, told reporters last month that Spain would request the “immediate suspension” of the European Union’s cooperation deal with Israel, and would also urge partners to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
The EU commenced a review of its cooperation deal with Israel last month, as Israel launched a renewed offensive in Gaza that aims to seize 75 percent of the Strip. The renewed offensive was accompanied by a US- and Israel-backed aid distribution scheme meant to circumvent Hamas, after some two months in which no aid entered the Strip at all.
Spain had already outraged Jerusalem by recognizing Palestinian statehood in May 2024, in a joint move with Ireland and Norway, which have also been highly critical of Israel’s policies in Palestinian territories.
Amid the aid block and renewed offensive, countries that have had warmer ties with Israel have also stepped up criticism of the war in Gaza.
French President Emmanuel Macron has recently indicated his country would recognize a Palestinian state as well. Macron, who last year expressed support for an arms embargo on Israel, has also been accused by Jerusalem of blocking Israeli arms firms from holding displays in French weapons expos.
Germany, Israel’s largest arms supplier after the United States, has also recently hardened its tone against the war in Gaza, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz last month saying Israel’s conduct “is no longer comprehensible.”
His foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, has threatened “steps” against Israel, and last week said Berlin would decide whether to approve new arms shipments based on an assessment of the humanitarian situation in the Strip.
Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom have also threatened “concrete actions” against Israel if it doesn’t end the war and increase the flow of aid into Gaza. Canada and the UK have already suspended some arms export licenses to Israel.
The UK has also frozen trade talks with Israel over what London said was the “indefensible” decision to widen the Gaza war and halt the flow of aid to the Strip. Canada, meanwhile, confirmed Monday that it has been investigating war crimes in Gaza.