Spanish prime minister calls for Israel to be banned from sports events after chaos at cycling race

MADRID AP Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S nchez on Monday called for Israel to be banned from sports events after pro-Palestinian activists disrupted the final stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race in chaotic scenes in Madrid Israel s foreign minister responded by calling S nchez an antisemite and a liar Tensions between the two countries have escalated in latest weeks as Spain s left-wing regime expressed encouragement for protesters who interrupted several stages of the Vuelta including Sunday s final stage in Madrid because an Israeli crew was taking part Speaking to members of his Socialist Party S nchez noted Israel just like Russia should not be allowed to compete in international sports events because of its military campaign in Gaza The sports organizations should consider whether it s ethical for Israel to keep participating in international competitions Why expel Russia after the invasion of Ukraine and not expel Israel after the invasion of Gaza Sanchez reported Until the barbarity ends neither Russia nor Israel should be in any international competition S nchez spoke a day after Sunday s final stage of the Vuelta was cut short when pro-Palestinian protesters opposing the participation of Israeli group Israel Premier Tech threw obstacles onto the road and clashed with police near the finish line in the Spanish capital Personnel revealed two people were arrested and injured none of them seriously The Spanish governing body had already expressed sympathy with the protesters and suggested that the Israel Premier Tech company should have withdrawn from the three-week-long race that became a diplomatic battleground The squad removed its name from its uniforms but remained in the race until the end despite protesters calls for it to be expelled Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar criticized S nchez with a post on X that included a video link to the Spanish leader s speech Monday An antisemite and a liar Saar wrote Did Israel invade Gaza on Oct th or did the Hamas terror state invade Israel and commit the worst massacre against the Jews since the Holocaust The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct killing about people mostly civilians and abducting There are still hostages remaining in Gaza of whom Israel believes that are still alive Israel s retaliatory offensive has killed more than Palestinians according to Gaza s Soundness Ministry which doesn t say how plenty of were civilians or combatants The offensive has displaced greater part of Gaza s million people caused widespread destruction and severe hunger across the territory As the war has ground on Israel has grown increasingly isolated with Spain at the forefront of growing list of European countries increasingly critical of Israel due to the heavy civilian toll A number of countries including the U K and France have reported they plan on recognizing a Palestinian state and the European Commission s president has called for scaling back Europe s business ties with Israel Europe remains divided on its stance toward Israel and its limited sanctions and condemnations so far have had little effect Madrid s conservative mayor Jos Luis Mart nez-Almeida also criticized S nchez and described Sunday s events as a sad day for the Spanish capital Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard who was leading the overall classification going into the final stage was declared the winner of the Vuelta but the customary podium ceremony was canceled It s a pity that such a moment of eternity was taken from us Vingegaard announced Everyone has the right to protest but not in a way that influences or endangers our race The teams reportedly improvised a private podium ceremony later so riders could celebrate Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen condemned the protesters for spoiling the race and criticized S nchez for praising the protests Instead I want to praise the athletes and everyone who doesn t spoil things for others she wrote on Instagram Vuelta race director Javier Guill n on defended the decision to let the Israeli band stay in the race The Vuelta s position was clear we had to abide to the norms of the International Cycling Union It s the UCI that regulates the right of admission to the race Guill n revealed at a news conference Monday We never got into any other type of debate All we craved to do was to be able to finish the race with normalcy and that wasn t doable The Vuelta was disrupted by protesters during several stages with a few having to be cut short and others interrupted The central administration s representative for the Madrid region declared an estimated people were on the streets during the protests The number could not be independently verified Guill n noted the Vuelta protests would likely have implications for future sports events with Israeli participants After this Vuelta the international entities will need to make decisions and cycling will need to have chosen internal discussions to find solutions he stated Next year s Tour de France begins with a stage in Barcelona Hopefully everything will be solved by then he mentioned I don t want to speculate with any possibilities I m sure Barcelona will have a great Tour de France AP cycling https apnews com hub cycling Source