The facts are clear. B. Netanyahu has accused Spain of “hostility” towards Israel and announced its exclusion from the Kiryat Gat Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), the Gaza truce monitoring mechanism set up under American supervision. At the same time, Israel has decided to exclude France from direct negotiations with Lebanon next week in Washington, deeming Paris “cannot” play a credible mediating role.

The grievance against Madrid is clearly articulated: socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez opposed the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, Madrid closed its airspace to US aircraft involved in this war and deemed it “unacceptable.” This is Beirut.

For Paris, the grievance is just as precise: France refused to allow US planes carrying weapons to Israel to fly over its airspace, and since Hezbollah began firing after the Israeli-American strike on Iran, E.Macron and other French officials are pressuring Israel not to launch a ground operation in Lebanon.

Is this a turning point? Yes—but not in the usual sense

This is not a qualitative turning point in the Israeli posture: the European isolation of Israel is not new, and the tensions with Paris and Madrid largely existed before. What is new is the method and timing.

Three elements constitute the real break:

1. The punitive measures have become operational, not just rhetorical. B. Netanyahu stated, “I have no intention of allowing any country to wage a diplomatic war against us without paying an immediate price.”........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)