Spanish Socialist PM Sánchez Slams Israel Over Palm Sunday Blockade at Christianity’s Holiest Site
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wasted no time blasting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after police blocked top Catholic leaders from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
“Netanyahu has prevented Catholics from celebrating Palm Sunday in Jerusalem’s Holy Places. Without any explanation. Without reasons or motives,” Sánchez declared. “From the Government of Spain, we condemn this unjustified attack on religious freedom and demand that Israel respect the diversity of beliefs and international law.”
The incident marks the first time in centuries that the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Custos of the Holy Land were turned away by Israeli police while heading privately to the church — the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Vatican officials called the move “manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate.”
Netanyahu’s office claimed the block was purely for the leaders’ safety amid Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, insisting there was “no malicious intent.”
This isn’t Sánchez’s first shot at Israel. The socialist leader has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide in Gaza, pushed for EU sanctions, and recognized a Palestinian state. His quick condemnation fits a pattern of European leftists piling on Israel even as it fights for survival against Iranian-backed threats.
While security concerns in a war zone are real, denying access to Christianity’s most sacred site on one of its holiest days — with zero advance warning — raises legitimate questions about proportionality and respect for religious freedom. Christians worldwide expect better from the stewards of Jerusalem’s holy places, not political grandstanding from abroad.