Solidarity and Complicity: The Spanish Struggle to Sever Military Ties with Israel

Human Rights Research Center
17 minutes ago
7 min read

April 27, 2026

HRRC calls on actions by Spain, including a legally binding and comprehensive arms embargo with the Israeli military industry, reform the Law of Official Secrets to ensure full transparency, strengthen judicial accountability for corporate contributions to crimes against humanity, and deny transit rights for weapons destined for Israel, in order to halt complicity with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza.

Thousands of people march for the prohibition of arms trade with Israel and in support of Palestinians in Madrid, Spain on February 25, 2024 [Image credit: Burak Akbulut – Anadolu Agency]

In Spain, support for Palestine crosses ideological lines and is rooted in a unique diplomatic history. Spain did not recognize the State of Israel until 1986, and under the Franco regime, cultivated close ties with Arab nations (some of which, notably Palestinians, fought alongside the Spanish people as they rallied against the dictator) and provided university scholarships to many young Palestinians who eventually formed families and settled in the country. Following the transition to democracy, Spain became the first Western country to officially receive Yasir Arafat in 1979.

Today, this history is reflected in public opinion: 82% of Spaniards qualify Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide". This sentiment is driven by a diverse range of social movements, including RESCOP and various labor unions.

However, despite the Spanish government’s claims of a "de facto" arms embargo since October 7, 2023, reports indicate that military and commercial relations continue. For example, the Basque firm CAF continues its involvement in the Jerusalem Light Rail, a project that connects illegal settlements in East Jerusalem, leading to its inclusion in the UN database of companies operating in occupied territories. Since late 2023, the Spanish government has reportedly signed contracts valued at over €1 billion with Israeli defense companies or their Spanish subsidiaries, such as Elbit Systems and Rafael. In late 2023, while the government claimed exports were suspended, millions of euros in ammunition were sent to Israel, often justified as "tests" or "re-exports".

The case of Sidenor, one of Spain’s largest steel manufacturers, showcases this challenge. Sidenor is under investigation for exporting between 1,121 and 1,207 tons of steel to the Israeli public company IMI Systems (a subsidiary of Elbit Systems) between August 2024 and June 2025. During a police search, an email was discovered in the commercial director's office explicitly linking steel shipments to the fabrication of "obuses" (howitzers/shells). This suggests the company had "full knowledge" that its material was destined for military production during the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The Public Prosecution has consistently clashed with the investigating judge, attempting to limit the case to a "smuggling" offense while rejecting charges of complicity in crimes against humanity or genocide.

On April 13, 2026, the Audiencia Nacional (National Court) delivered a major blow to the investigation by annulling the police search of Sidenor's offices, labeling it "disproportionate" and an "indiscriminate intervention,” while excluding a Gazan citizen from acting as a private prosecutor.

A lack of transparency in Spain's arms trade reporting poses an additional challenge. The Centre Delàs has denounced an "active policy of opacity and misinformation," noting that the government has failed to provide a comprehensive list of contracts with Israeli firms or their status, as detailed in their working paper. Furthermore, discrepancies between Spanish and Israeli customs data suggest that Spanish exports could have actually been up to five times higher than what was officially declared.

Spain currently finds itself in a state of contradiction. While its citizens and government lead European calls for the recognition of a Palestinian state and the suspension of EU-Israel trade agreements, its domestic private sector remains deeply integrated with the Israeli military apparatus. As the legal failures in the Sidenor case suggest, without a definitive, legally binding embargo and greater judicial will, the "business as usual" model will continue to undermine Spain’s longstanding commitment to Palestinian rights.

Today, Spanish movements to end the arms trade with Israel are pressing the sitting government to reinforce harsher measures, including a reform of the “Law of Official Secrets” that would help in promoting greater transparency of arms deals; publishing the proceedings of the government committee that examines transactions and transport through or in Spain that contain weaponry or technology that could be used in a war or conflict; and advocating for a government policy against arms export to Israel across political parties. Such stricter measures could bring Spain closer to the demands of the Spanish people in regards to Palestine.

Glossary

Arms embargo: Prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer, to these [the listed] individuals, groups, undertakings and entities from their territories or by their nationals outside their territories, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned and technical advice, assistance, or training related to military activities.
Audiencia Nacional - It is the sole court in Spain with jurisdiction over the entire national territory, serving as a centralized and specialized court for hearing certain matters assigned to it by law.
Basque Country - is a cultural region that overlaps the western side of the border between France and Spain where the Basque people have lived for centuries. Basques refer to their homeland in their own language as Euskal Herria.
CAF - a global leader in comprehensive transportation systems, shaping the future of sustainable mobility.
Centre Delàs: The Centre d’Estudis per la Pau J.M. Delàs (Centre of Studies for Peace J.M. Delàs) was created in 1999 in Justícia i Pau (Justice and Peace, as a result of the Campanya Contra el Comerç d’Armes –C3A, the Campaign against Arms Trade – C3A, which started in 1988. Currently, it is an independent Research Center on issues related to disarmament and peace.
Complicity - involvement with others in a crime or in another activity that is wrong.
Crimes against humanity - refer to specific crimes committed in the context of a large-scale attack targeting civilians, regardless of their nationality. These crimes include murder, torture, sexual violence, enslavement, persecution, enforced disappearance, etc
Datacomex - is a web application that allows users to generate online reports on Spanish and European foreign trade over the past few years.
De facto - actual; especially : being such in effect though not formally recognized.
Dual Use (Doble Uso) - Dual-use items are goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications.
Franco regime - In 1939, once the Spanish Civil War had ended, a military dictatorship was set up in Spain over which General Franco held all the power, as reflected in the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom, where he was the Head of State and Government, head of the army and head of the only political party, the Phalange. The Franco dictatorship lasted for 36 years, until his death in 1975.
Genocide - In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
- Killing members of the group;
- Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
- Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
- Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Howitzers - a short cannon used to fire projectiles at medium muzzle velocities and with relatively high trajectories.
JIMDDU - (Junta Interministerial de Material de Defensa y Doble Uso) es la responsable de evaluar las operaciones relativas al comercio exterior de material de defensa y de doble uso. Además, tiene la obligación de emitir informes preceptivos y vinculantes sobre las autorizaciones administrativas.
Law of Official Secrets - Esta ley regula una materia tan sensible como la clasificación de información pública por razones de seguridad, y lo hace sin estar en consonancia con los estándares internacionales. En la práctica, esto supone una restricción al derecho de acceso a la información, que obstaculiza la investigación de violaciones graves de derechos humanos y del derecho internacional humanitario.
Light Rail - The JLR, a long-standing Israeli initiative, was initially designed to link West Jerusalem with settlements such as Pisgat Ze’ev and French Hill. The second phase of the project will extend connections to the Gilo and Neve Ya’akov settlements and to the Hebrew University in Mount Scopus. A future third phase plans to link Gilo to Ramot via a new Blue Line, all within or adjacent to East Jerusalem — territory considered occupied under international law.
Military-industrial complex - an informal alliance of the military and related government departments with defense industries that is held to influence government policy.
Obuses - a metal case filled with explosives and fired from a gun, etc.
Opacity - the quality of being difficult to understand or know about, especially because things have been intentionally kept secret or made complicated.
Private prosecution - a prosecution started by a private individual rather than by the police.
RESCOP (Red Solidaria contra la Ocupación en Palestina) - The Solidarity Network Against the Occupation of Palestine is an open and flexible working group established in March 2005 and composed of organizations from across the country that promote solidarity with Palestine within a common framework and based on agreed-upon principles and methodologies, in order to combine their efforts through teamwork to achieve their goals.
Re-export - to send goods that have been sent to your country to another country for sale.
Smuggling - the act or process of taking things or people to or from a place secretly and often illegally.
Transversal - Relating to various fields or disciplines rather than to a specific problem.
UN database of companies operating in occupied territories - a database of all business enterprises involved in certain specified activities related to the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.
Yasir Arafat - was the president (1996–2004) of the Palestinian Authority (PA), chairman (1969–2004) of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and leader of Fatah, the largest of the constituent PLO groups. In 1993 he led the PLO to a peace agreement with the Israeli government. Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres of Israel were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994.

References

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Solidarity and Complicity: The Spanish Struggle to Sever Military Ties with Israel

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