González Laya visits Palestine and Israel
On Wednesday, Arancha González Laya will become the first Spanish foreign minister to visit the Jewish state after José Manuel García-Margallo, who made an official trip in 2015, although she had already ceremonially accompanied the King in Jerusalem last January at an international forum on the Holocaust in Jerusalem.
Israeli diplomatic sources say that relations with Spain have improved in recent months following the repercussions of the procès abroad, in which Israel and the Netanyahu government defined the crisis in Catalonia in autumn 2017 as "an internal affair that should be resolved through dialogue", according to El País.
González Laya's official visit has had to be postponed on two occasions: because of the confinement caused by the pandemic and because of official commitments made by the minister. This visit comes in the midst of a political process after an Israeli commission recommended on Wednesday that national elections be held on 16 March, after a former member of Netanjahu's party, Yair Lapid, pushed through a motion for the dissolution of parliament, which was approved in a first vote and, if it goes ahead, could lead the country to new elections.
González Laya is due to arrive at around 14:30 local time (11:30 GMT) from Brussels and his agenda will begin this afternoon on the Israeli side with a meeting with the Foreign Minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, followed by a meeting with the head of the opposition, Yair Lapid, according to the Efe agency.
Later he will meet the Minister for Regional Cooperation, Ofer Akunis, and will take part virtually in the presentation of the Ladino Academy.
On Thursday morning, at 10:00 local time (7:00 GMT), he will end the visit on the Israeli side with a meeting with the President, Reuvén Rivlin. After this meeting, he will head to Ramallah to meet with the Palestinian authorities, according to Efe.
The Palestinian side's relations with Spain have always been very close, and it even abstained in a vote condemning Israel at the UN Human Rights Council last summer. Two years earlier, it had been the only EU country to vote against Israel when it promoted an international investigation into the death of two hundred Palestinian demonstrators on the border of the Gaza Strip by army sniper fire.
There, he will be received by the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, at the Muqata or presidential palace, and will then travel to the Foreign Ministry for an interview with his counterpart, Riyadh al-Malki, after which both will make statements to the press. His trip will end on Thursday afternoon, where he will finally meet the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohamad Shteyeh, accompanied by Al-Malki.
