The Spanish Government has once again pressured the government of Israel, presided by Benjamin Netanyahu, to make a declaration of its refusal to recognise the Catalan Republic. Spain's ambassador to Israel, Manuel Gómez Acebo, has made overtures in this regard both to the Israeli Prime Minister's office and to the country's Foreign Affairs ministry, as reported on Sunday by the Jerusalem Post newspaper. Up till now, almost three days after the declaration of independence was approved by the Catalan Parliament, Israel has not responded to the Spanish requests.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel will for the moment not move from this position of neutrality, which is closer to a pro-Catalan position than the opposition expressed by Germany and France to the Catalan Republic. Going beyond this neutral position is at the moment seen as "unlikely".
The newspaper points out that Israel has defended the independence of Kurdistan, but it specifies that, in contrast with the Catalan case, it has a strategic interest in the existence of a Kurdish state in the Middle East.
Israeli president Reuven Rivlin has an official visit to Spain scheduled for Sunday of next week, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and this could introduce changes in the positionings.
In the Israeli political circles, it has not gone down well that the ambassador has tried to manage the matter from Tel Aviv, where the embassy is located, rather than Jerusalem, the city where the Israeli government has its seat, but which Spain does not recognize as the country's capital. Spain has a consulate in Jerusalem.