Israel and Catalonia

05/10/2017

Netanyahu has no comment on Catalonia referendum

By Herb Keinon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who in recent weeks came out in favor of Iraqi Kurdish independence, had no comment Sunday about the independence referendum in Catalonia.

Netanyahu’s spokesman David Keyes directed inquiries on the matter to the Foreign Ministry where spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon, when asked Israel’s stand on the issue, replied: “We see it as an internal Spanish matter.”

In 2013, then-president of the Catalan government, Artur Mas, came to Israel with the mayor of Barcelona and a business delegation.

Mas met with then-president Shimon Peres and the finance minister at the time, Yair Lapid.

According to a report at the time, Mas spoke with Peres about “Catalonia’s process of building its own state.” There is no report of what Peres said on the matter.