Hotovely with Spanish Secretary of State
Hotovely with Spanish Secretary of StateElram Mendel, Foreign Ministry

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely met Thursday with Spanish Secretary of State Ildefonso Castro Lopez as part of the framework of the political dialogue held between the Israeli and Spanish foreign ministries.

Hotovely thanked the Spanish Secretary of State for his government's support for Israel and for the Spanish government's public and resolute opposition to demands Spain launch a boycott of Israel. The two countries share many fruitful cooperation agreements, including on issues of security and cyber security, Hotovely noted.

Turning to the Iran nuclear deal, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister provided an overview of the changes Israel believes the European Union must make to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in light of the change in the American position. "The main engine of terrorism in the Middle East is Iran, but the problem does not stop in the Middle East, it also reaches the doorstep of Europe."

Hotovely also raised a request for the Spanish legislation to ban initiatives to boycott Israel at the governmental level due to the active activities of the BDS movement in Spain.

During their meeting, Hotovely raised the issue of Spain's voting patterns in international forums such as the UN. She called on Spain to "change your voting pattern in the UN and international forums. If you intend to see a peace process in the Middle East, there is no substitute for direct negotiations. Do not create an illusion for the Palestinians that Europe will solve the problem for them without requiring them to fight terror and incitement."

"For 25 years, Israel has tried to resolve [the conflict through] the two-state solution. This attempt to solve it was a failure, and the time has come to think of new solutions to old problems," she explained.

At the end of the meeting, Hotovely gave Secretary Lopez a booklet in which the Foreign Ministry's position on the legality of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria according to international law, and a gift representing Israel's capital of Jerusalem.